I would think the fob is water proof (or at least resistant.) If not, then I guess you could try to make a copy of the "emergency" metal key hiding inside the fob.

Every pushbutton vehicle I've had so far had a metal key inside the fob, I'd think a JL does as well. Tape that spare under the Jeep so you can at least get into it, put it into neutral for a tow, etc.

 

I dropped mine into the Salt River and it works like new.

 

The JK key fob has been battery powers for years, nothing new.
Only difference is you have a start button instead of inserting and turning a key.

 

Yeah, the JL key fob has a rubber gasket to keep it "water-resistant". That's fancy words for it's waterproof but us (Jeep) aren't responsible if it doesn't work. That's why the fob is so large. Also, shouldn't you have two keys? Lastly, the fob has a built-in manual key? Unlock the doors and start the vehicle by pushing the start/stop button with the keyfob. Yes, use the keyfob itself to push the start/stop button.

 

But wait, let's just say the fob won't work to open the doors since water did get in it and you use the manual key to open the door, how is the vehicle going to start if it can't detect the dead fob electronically? It probably won't.

The one question I have is if you can pry off the push button start key and is there a manual key hole behind it to be able to start the Jeep manually if everything does die. I have not tried to pry the button off yet. My 2012 Jeep GC had this feature, there was a key hole behind the push button of the push button start.

 

I accidentally took the rental Wrangler key fob for a swim in the hotel pool for about an hour this weekend in Hawaii. It was dead, but I brought it back to life and saved myself the $250+ fob replacement fee. But first, I tried opening the Wrangler JL with the flip-out key. The alarm went off, and pushing the fob to the start button did not start the car, alarm still blaring, my littl'un screaming and freaking out. I had to relock the car with the key to get the alarm to turn off. So I did some internet searching...

I went to Walmart and bought 91% isopropyl alcohol ($3) and a small screw driver set ($6.50). Then I went to Best Buy and bought a 2-pack of CR2450 batteries ($10), because the battery was certainly drained after being shorted out for an hour. Step 1: take the old battery out and throw it in the trash. Then, I completely disassembled the fob, and even though it looks like small torxs screws to get the circuit board out, the very small flat head worked the internal screws. I even pried out the front push button panel, which was actually fairly easy to do. Everything got an alcohol bath and then dried with the hotel-room hair dryer set to warm and low. I was slow in drying the circuit board, multiple short drys, didn't want to damage it with heat. Lastly, I installed one of the new batteries, the second being my backup, because it is not a common battery.

That did the trick. But there is more... I was wondering why the flip-out key wouldn't flip out when we picked up the vehicle. After being inside the fob, it's because this fob had been in sea water before, and the preload on the rotary spring was not properly reset. It's easier to put it back together without the preload, so I did that. I know it was in sea water because of corrosion on the microprocessor terminals. De-water your drowned fob with 91% alcohol ASAP, especially if it was in briney waters. Clean it out soon, or pay later.

Conclusion: Once the battery is removed and you have everything apart, don't be bashful about squirting 91% isopropyl alcohol in and over everything to displace the water. Then take your time drying it out. The whole process took me 4 hours, but that's only because I jogged 11 miles to get to Walmart and Best Buy and back to Waikiki. It was a nice run, 8:30 minutes/mile through the entirety of Honolulu. Would have been more fun to drive the Jeep during that time instead.

 

Thanks for your update and welcome aboard.

Also, there is a Walmart less than 2 miles from Waikiki, depending on where you were staying at. I visited my daughter who lived about a mile up from Waikiki Beach two years ago. There is also the public bus transportation system (called The Bus) that isn't too hard to navigate with Google Maps and just costs a few dollars. I used it to get to Pearl Harbor and back to my hotel on Waikiki Beach. That would have saved you some time with getting the fob fixed.

 

I accidentally took the rental Wrangler key fob for a swim in the hotel pool for about an hour this weekend in Hawaii. It was dead, but I brought it back to life and saved myself the $250+ fob replacement fee. But first, I tried opening the Wrangler JL with the flip-out key. The alarm went off, and pushing the fob to the start button did not start the car, alarm still blaring, my littl'un screaming and freaking out. I had to relock the car with the key to get the alarm to turn off. So I did some internet searching...

I went to Walmart and bought 91% isopropyl alcohol ($3) and a small screw driver set ($6.50). Then I went to Best Buy and bought a 2-pack of CR2450 batteries ($10), because the battery was certainly drained after being shorted out for an hour. Step 1: take the old battery out and throw it in the trash. Then, I completely disassembled the fob, and even though it looks like small torxs screws to get the circuit board out, the very small flat head worked the internal screws. I even pried out the front push button panel, which was actually fairly easy to do. Everything got an alcohol bath and then dried with the hotel-room hair dryer set to warm and low. I was slow in drying the circuit board, multiple short drys, didn't want to damage it with heat. Lastly, I installed one of the new batteries, the second being my backup, because it is not a common battery.

That did the trick. But there is more... I was wondering why the flip-out key wouldn't flip out when we picked up the vehicle. After being inside the fob, it's because this fob had been in sea water before, and the preload on the rotary spring was not properly reset. It's easier to put it back together without the preload, so I did that. I know it was in sea water because of corrosion on the microprocessor terminals. De-water your drowned fob with 91% alcohol ASAP, especially if it was in briney waters. Clean it out soon, or pay later.

Conclusion: Once the battery is removed and you have everything apart, don't be bashful about squirting 91% isopropyl alcohol in and over everything to displace the water. Then take your time drying it out. The whole process took me 4 hours, but that's only because I jogged 11 miles to get to Walmart and Best Buy and back to Waikiki. It was a nice run, 8:30 minutes/mile through the entirety of Honolulu. Would have been more fun to drive the Jeep during that time instead.

Welcome to the Forum!

 

To add a bit for those that need a totally waterproof key. There's a company named Threedom that makes key fob cases for the JL. I have two different sized cases from them. One is tiny like early key fobs and the other is mid sized, but still significantly smaller than the OEM fob. Neither of these are waterproof.

But the totally waterproof solution is their key holder with a RFID chip holder built in. You take your OEM fob apart and get the metal key and RFID chip out. The new key holder has a place to put the RFID chip and a roll pin to hold the metal key. To start the jeep, you need to physically put the holder with the RFID chip directly on the push start button, just like shown in your owners manual where they describe starting with a dead fob battery.

 

have a extra key, done.