[Dave Witschger]

We have a kawasaki 12f and lost the ignition key. The dealer was nice and gave us a 3016 key (Only one he had). Unfortunatley we need a 3018. popped the center cover off the key and it has 3 magnets and four holes inside.

We are currently in la Paz Mexico and the dealer said he can't get a new key for several weeks because of the holidays.

Does anyone know the correct position of the magnets for the 3018 key???

Thanks

 

[shlbyntro]

We have a kawasaki 12f and lost the ignition key. The dealer was nice and gave us a 3016 key (Only one he had). Unfortunatley we need a 3018. popped the center cover off the key and it has 3 magnets and four holes inside.

We are currently in la Paz Mexico and the dealer said he can't get a new key for several weeks because of the holidays.

Does anyone know the correct position of the magnets for the 3018 key???

Thanks

alright. heres what you have to do. i lost mine at lake powell once on my old 1100 stx. pretty much the same boat.

u pop the cap off like you said and pull the magnets out of your key.

you then place the magnets on top of the key pad on your jetski. theyre going to stick in the 3 positions on the jetski that have magnets underneath the plastic.

u then very carefully set ur open key on top of the magnets that are now sitting on top of the ski's megnetic key pad. (this can be very hard and you may be tempted to pick the magnets up off the magnetic key pad and put them inside the key. if you do this be extremely careful not to screw up or cross the orientation of the magnets as just one inside the key upside down or in the wrong position will cause it not to work).

then put your cap back on your key.

will be just as good as the correct key if you do it right

good luck!

 

[Dave Witschger]

Thanks

Thanks. worked perfect
Dave

 

[shlbyntro]

glad to hear!

 

[mgillie]

Magnetic Key

I start my 1997 1100 STX by just turning the switch (without the magnetic key) because my key does not seem to be magnetic... it will not stay on the switch by itself. So why does the engine start if I do not have the magnetic key on the switch??

 

[WYSIWYG]

Kawasaki magnetic ignition Key

Hey Shlbyntro Mate you are a genius

I read your message after breaking our STX key and being told that had to buy a new one. A friend gave me an old one of theirs. We followed your advice and presto = new key and it was easy! Cheers

 

[ggauvin]

mgillie...
Your '97 does not have the same type of magnetized key.
The earlier Kawi's "magnetized" keys were simply a way to waterproof a simple on/off switch. Prior to about '94/'95 jetskis had no ignition switches at all. The first generation (including your '97) had only 1 magnet. The switches were simple in design. The magnet inside the switch only had to move enough to allow it to mechanically turn. They wore out (plastic parts). Many of them will turn by mere finger pressure, thus no magnet needed in the key, or in fact no key needed sometimes. Some owners deliberately modified the switch to remove the magnet since the removable key was a nuisance. Once worn out, or modified, you then simply turned the switch on by hand. Since all Kawi's had the same key, there was no particular "protection" feature anyway.

 

[JerseySaki]

I have a 2006 STX15 and lost the key. I got a replacement 3018 from Kawasaki through a third party but it did not work. I tried the trick above. Got all the magnets lined up on the lock. Got the plastic key lined up fine. Lock did not release. Suggestions please!

 

[carlosriosness]

I have a 2006 STX15 and lost the key. I got a replacement 3018 from Kawasaki through a third party but it did not work. I tried the trick above. Got all the magnets lined up on the lock. Got the plastic key lined up fine. Lock did not release. Suggestions please!

just signed up to help and get help.

notes. my 2001 900 sts has been sitting for like 7 years. just started to clean it up and check it out today. i too followed the directions above, but changed them up a bit.

i popped open key. placed magnets over ignition (mine lined up for the top 3 spots, and nothing. would not turn. i noticed the magnets would only stick 1 way. each side of the magnet was a slightly different color (one side dark and the other light). i noticed 2 were "face down" (light side towards ignition) and one "face up" (light side faced me).

what i did differently.

i placed the magnets upside down back in the key. for instance. the magnet on top spot had the lighter side towards the ignition on its own. which means the darker side was facing me. i took that magnet off the ignition, and placed it back in the top spot of the key with the lighter side going into the key, forcing the darker side towards the ignition. (forcing it to line up opposite of what how it wanted to line up naturally).

i did this with all 3 magnets and it seemed to click over. though i dont have a battery yet so i could not 100% confirm. i will try to test next weekend.

to make it easy, you can place magnets on ignition. paint top of magnet with a thin layer of white out. take magnet off, place in key, and when looking at key you should see white tops of magnet.

 

[JerseySaki]

That would probably worked had I tried it. Instead I got a photo of the backside of the ignition. It was actually a 3006 key code, and not the 3018 that was on the dealer paperwork. I ordered the proper key and it worked fine.

 

[carlosriosness]

That would probably worked had I tried it.

if you still have the extra "bad" key, you might as well try it so you have an extra working spare.

 

[JerseySaki]

I got 2 this time. The spare is going in my boat box. No more of this stuff. I sweated the two weeks it had salt water in it. Got it all flushed and running great. But thanks for the concern. The keys are cheap. I would recommend everyone have a spare.