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For a locksmith, key programming looks relatively simple, but some problems can arise when you're trying to do so. And suppose you're looking at getting into the automotive key cutting business or getting ready to invest in an electronic key cutting machine. In that case, some principles and problems will happen despite the type of your electronic device. Below are some tools and resources on how to deal with them to get the job done!
This is a Futura Auto tablet. It is controlled by a removable 10” (254mm) touch-screen tablet, which will guide you step-by-step in all key-cutting operations. And if you want to duplicate or copy a vehicle key, you can use this copy vehicles button or go into the search.
Let's go to copy vehicles and look for a 2019 Chevy Blazer. In the options displayed, go to Chevrolet, then look for Blazer. The choices of cars are alphabetically listed, and if you can’t find Blazer --- this is one of the problems, you can go back to Home and try the search method.
Simply go to search. In the options given, choose Vehicle Keys, click the Vehicle Make, and start typing Chevy. In the search result, select Chevrolet USA, and Blazer can be seen. And as you click on it. Here’s a problem. 1991 - 2006 years will pop up, and since the new blazer is not in this database yet. This happens all the time with different machines. But there are two free resources you can use.
The first resource is going to be the Ilco Key Reference Guide. Using the book, look for Chevy Blazer. Once you find it, go to the actual year. In the fourth column, find the code series. Because once you find the code series, everything starts to get more comfortable. But this book only goes up to 2006, so I'll put a link to a PDF. It’s nice to have this in PDF format because you can search quickly, find the vehicle and look it up. Besides that, you pick up this PDF document on our website because the problem is already solved!
The next one is the JMA version of the same thing, the JMA vehicle Reference Guide. I printed out this page and highlighted it, especially the code series listed. But it only goes up to 2006.
These two are free resources, so make sure you download them. Keep it because it’s a great extra piece of reference material.
The other option is going to be paid. It could be one of your go-to’s when doing all these programming because you can access it anywhere, and it's the generic code online version. Here’s a link to the video for you to watch and see how it works. What I did is go to gcodeonline.com, and I went Make, Model, and Year. I pulled up the 2019 and 2020 Chevy Blazer and printed this. At the top left corner, there is the code series: Z0001 to Z6314. So that's the information we need to duplicate this key.
To show you what I mean, get back to the Futura tablet. Go over to Search, then Vehicle Keys, and click the Code option. Type in a Z0001 and hit Search. It will pull up all sorts of these options here, and what's important to be looking at here is where the profile and the series.
You’ll see that the Z code series is aligned to Cadillac. Hit the card. Even that information is a little different. The max code series before goes up to 6314 and this series only goes up to 6000. Still, this is what we're going to be cutting. Another interesting fact is that you can always go by the key blank, which is the B119. Now, if you are on the right page and still a little concerned, you can look for any extra information at the card info, measurements, or even depths. You can compare them to the depths on the paper and see if it matches to make sure. Once you confirm it, you can go to Decoding. Put the key that you need to decode and make the extra key or the copy key.
These are the little tiny things that you just have to kind of get used to, as you do more until you learn and be comfortable.
Here’s a quick recap. Figure out and get what the code series is; Once you do that, type the code series into whatever information that you're using, and by doing that, you're going to get to a spot where you can find a code series that's going to allow you to get that key cut.
I hope that was super helpful. You have to figure out what that code series is. So if you're looking up the Make Model Year, you can't find it; you need to use the resources. I’ll link the notes below, make sure you get those and figure out what that code series is. At that point, it gets super easy. Just pull up that code series on any other vehicle, and you can duplicate that key and get it done. I appreciate you guys reading! Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
