airkulr

I need to actually cut a new key from my old switchblade fob. Can a locksmith cut a new key blank with my old switchblade key in the housing or does the original key have to be removed from the housing? All I have is the physical key to work with since I never had any of the "key duplicate cards" when I bought the 993 years ago. Hopefully I don"t have to take the switchblade housing apart.

Stephan Schmidt

I was in a similar situation. I bought the blank key and a head online and wanted to get it cut at ACE. But they don’t cut outside keys. Neither does Light and Bulb. So I texted a friend who is a locksmith. He usually doesn’t do vehicle keys. While I was waiting for his reply I continued trying to find a locksmith. It appears the KeyMe Kiosk would have worked. I scanned my Key with the fob at the kiosk successfully. But of course I would have to buy the material from them as well. They will send you the key home after a couple of days.
My friend called me before I finished the payment process. So I terminated the order at the kiosk and my friend cut the key using the blank that I already bought. He asked me to disassemble the blade for cutting. That was not a big deal. My hot tip when you are doing that is to do it in a box (shoebox) on the table. You don’t want to lose the small parts. Do the assembly also in the box. That little locking taper fell down in the box a dozen times before I finally had it assembled again.

Do you already have the second fob? That was another headache for me. But the ECU Doctors in FL helped me finally with it. Downside was that I had to send three ECU to them. I had to disassemble both seat to access them. But now I am all set with my spare key and fob.

crw

it depends on their machinery - an old stye key cutter should work.

airkulr

Yes, I already received my new FOB from ECU Doctors and have programmed it. Works real nice. Just waiting for a new key blank and lighted head from Pelican Parts. I really was hoping that I would NOT have to take the switchblade housing apart to extract the key. Maybe there is another way. The original switchblade housing is already pretty fragile. Thanks for your help!

airkulr

All is good in my world. Wanted to report back on my key duplication adventure and thank all for your insight.

I am the proud owner of a new key and key fob from ECU Doctors and my original key in the switchblade housing. They both work wonderfully. I did have to take my original switchblade key out of the housing to make a duplicate cut on the new blank...no way around it. Guardian Security in Tacoma Wa. is the go to place to do this as recommended by the Porsche dealer here. They did a good job and the new key works everything as the original. $7.49 to cut a new key right in front of you! I am glad I didn't have to send my keys anywhere because things get lost in the mail. Not much of a risk taker. The only real problem I had was trying to install the locking spring and cap back into the switchblade housing. I gave up after over an hour. I will save this last step for another day. The key is in the housing and seems very secure for now. It never fell out after repeated uses in the doors and ignition. It will be my back up for now. The new ECU Doctors fob is not as bulky.

An added bonus in starting procedure/sequence I discovered after programming both the new and old fobs. There is no more extra step in pushing the fob button with the key in the ignition. Simply turn the key to start and crank and the engine fires right up...love it! Always hated that extra button push on the fob to start the engine. It was such a damn fiddly step.

mferris

Glad you got it solved. While slightly less trouble bc I don’t have the fob to deal with, I hand cut my own blanks with a rotary tool for my 968 (and would do so for my 95 993). It took about 10 minutes, a vice, and some very close focus but works fine.

https://rennlist.com/forums/968-foru...ition-key.html