So this is VERY ANNOYING. I think one of the 3 is bad, or maybe there is a wiring problem I haven't found, but I doubt it.

Is there any way to confirm which is bad so that I know to just buy one, or buy all 3? Or go to dealer or find a car locksmith? Unfortunately I have only ever had one key because I had no idea what all was involved in getting a spare.

Here is what happened if it helps any. I am going to start from now and go backwards in time.

Right now, when I turn the switch it won't crank over. The red sentry light stays lit. After trying to crank and nothing, leaving the key in the on position the other lights go out and the Check Engine Light stays on, After a bit the CEL will blink off and flash 5 times staying lit the 5th time. After a while longer the red sentry light will blink off once and light right back up. The keyless entry still works right now though. No problem. Oh and once in a while here lately the key doesn't want to turn forward. I will have to turn it back to ACC and then it's fine. I start/stop many times a day every day so I hadn't paid a lot of attention to this considering 218k miles. I have no idea how the key switch and starter haven't just fell out by now, lol.

Yesterday, I went out to go to work, it cranked up fine and immediately died 2 seconds later. I tried 3 times. Then went and got keys for the other car and left. Thought about it and thought well maybe it is the battery. I have heard of this issue being the battery. I checked it and it was just a little over 12v. I pulled it out and took it in the garage, checked electrolyte levels and charged it overnight. This morning it read 12.99v so I put it back in the Jeep and by then it was 12.4 volts. Went to crank it and that is when it started the not cranking over like above. I still had not noticed the little red light (which I thought was fuel pump prime light until now). So I threw jumper cables on it before I assumed dead cell I went for a new battery. Nothing and after a bit I noticed the light.

Prior to this new years eve the key fob would not unlock the doors or pop the rear glass. I changed the battery and it worked.

Prior to this a month ago the key fob would not work. I stopped for battery. It still would not work so I checked all the connections and put the old battery back. It started working again later on. Seemed intermittent. I use it a lot while working so it came and went a couple of times and I thought one time I could get it to start and stop working by messing with turning the steering wheel some. But that may just be a fluke.

Sometime several months ago I noticed the flashers stopped flashing when using keyless entry. Just the interior lights come on. I actually never thought about this again until now because I have always found that obnoxious. I assumed some secondary hazard flasher somewhere had just went out and was kinda happy about it. I remember thinking now if I only knew what to unplug so the horn didn't toot when locking.

This is a nightmare for me. I can't work. I understand that I could get a PCM, but without getting one with a SKIM delete it will be screwed up if I put it in and it turns out the wireless control module is bad. If the WCM is bad I assume both have to be replaced and then I'd have to get keys too?

I am not against the SKIM delete. But I do NEED the remote entry part, so...

Does any of the above help narrow it any? The dealer of course was no help. I'd have to have it towed in and pay the diagnosis fee and they would get back to me on what all needs replacing, parts and labor etc...

I messed around a little bit more just trying to see "what would happen if I"....

So what I did was, unplugged the wireless control module receiver in the steering column so I could see if it made a change in the little red sentry light or the check engine flash. It did change. It took longer for the red light to come on by quite a few seconds, but no other change.

This makes me think maybe the PCM is not the problem?

As I thought about this I was trying to think if there was any way I could tell if my only key was the issue or the receiver in the steering column. Then I thought I had a bright idea, remembering once I tried to pop the back glass with the button while the key was in the switch and was bummed to find it didn't work that way. So I tried that, and the remote pops the back glass with the key in the ignition.

Interesting... So does this help any with probability?

I was at first thinking it is probably the PCM since the key works for 2 of 3 functions... and the receiver is receiving the keyless entry so its working for 1 of 2 functions. But now I am not so sure.

Is the transponder chip for the key sentry on the push button board? If it opens the back glass with the key in the switch, I can't decide rather the transponder is not sending a signal or the receiver in the steering column is no good and not picking up the signal?

So here is all the update I have. And if correct, the way this all works is clarified some. Of the dealers I have talked to, 2 of them have said the same thing, which is not saying a lot possibly. But 2 service guys telling me the same thing seems as if possibly they know what they are talking about maybe. If you read what I have been told and know if they are right or wrong please let me know.

From what I am told, the chip in the key for the anti-theft is separate from the keyless entry part and works a bit different than I was thinking. I know the keyless entry stuff is working fine at the moment. And I know it stops working if I unhook the wireless control module in the steering column. So I thing that it is a wireless receiver for the keyless entry like they are saying.

But apparently the sentry key side works just like it does on vehicles with basic chip keys that don't have keyless entry. So the wireless control module in the steering column transmits to the transponder chip and also receives back from it via the antenna ring around the key switch.

So in this scenario, it is possible the transponder chip in the key quit working. If I had another key I would know but of course I don't. It is also possible that the wireless control module quit sending or receiving chip key stuff while it still works for keyless entry. And it is also possible both are fine but the power control module has gone bad. So you can see how this is likely to escalate to a high expense once towed into the dealer.

I keep thinking in the back of my mind that the keyless entry was oddly intermittent recently. So I kind of suspect the wireless control module over the key. And the dash light situation reacts differently when I unplug the wireless control module, so there again I suspect the WCM over the PCM.

I'm still leaning away from having it towed to the dealer without some better commitment to how much it is going to cost. It is a good ride and as much as I love it I have to weigh the fact it has over 217K miles. So I have to have that conversation with myself about how much $ for the repair makes sense.

I am going to talk around and see if I can get a car key guy to come out. Basically I am going to ask the last few used car dealers I have bought from to put me in contact with their mobile key guy. That way I can question a few of them and see if they have any gadgets they can use to test the key transponder and/or sniff for frequency from the WCM... to help narrow it down.

In the meantime, I am going to drop a few emails and find out if I can get a PCM with a SKIM delete that will allow for me to keep using my keyless entry. And I am going to call some junk yards to see if I can locate another 07 that I can get the keys, switch, WCM and PCM from. I think that is a long shot. But if I could find one with all 4 pieces that should work I would think.

Well I dropped the emails and they had me call. They told me the keyless entry would work. Although I could not understand how it would since I would have to leave the SKIM unplugged, I went ahead anyways and ordered a computer programmed with my VIN and mileage, but with the SKIM delete.

It fires right up now and in a couple seconds the dash chimes and the light comes on, but that is it. It keeps running.

Unfortunately I was right. The keyless entry does not work and as far as I can tell this is because I have to leave the SKIM module unplugged, which doubles as the receiver antenna for the keyless entry.

I am now waiting to find out if I can drive it to a parts store, put my old computer back in, plug the SKIM back in and have it scanned to pull codes, which I hope would tell me what was originally wrong. Hoping the PCM was bad not the WCM SKIM thing in the column. If so I can get my keyless entry back working. I just don't know if the parts store code readers will be able to read these codes?

I have looked at the wiring diagrams trying to see if there was a wire I could clip in order to keep the SKIM delete while restoring my keyless entry. Obviously the WCM SKIM part in the column sends a signal to the body control module to lock the doors. But also, somehow a signal is sent to the PCM about the SKIM key stuff. From what I can tell there is a PCI data bus and a CAN-C data bus. I believe a whole bunch of sensors and stuff all connect to the same 2 bus systems so it's not just a simple clip of a wire thing I don't think.

Can anyone shed more light on this for me?

Also I did follow through with the junkyard idea of getting all the parts off one 2007 to transplant. That was like needle in a hay stack stuff. I gave up.

Replace the key so that you will not have any issues in the future, contact a local locksmiths and get your key replaced.

I also got mine replaced by a locksmith company near me.