Cause
Key not correctly programmed
A key whose transponder has not been paired to the vehicle, or has been paired incompletely. A key that turns the barrel is not necessarily a key the vehicle accepts — the mechanical cut and the electronic identity are separate, and a copied key with an unprogrammed chip will crank and not run.
The distinction from a faulty key is that this one has never worked. A key that worked yesterday and not today is a failure; one that has never started the vehicle was not programmed. That single question separates them and is worth asking before anything is tested.
Incomplete programming is the subtler case. Some systems store keys in slots and require every key to be present during the procedure, so programming a new one can silently deprogram the others — an owner who gains one working key and loses another has met this. Programming usually needs manufacturer-level access and proof of ownership, which is deliberate, and a key bought online will not work without it.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Some of these codes mean you should stop driving
2 of the 2 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.
Codes this can cause (2)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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