T5: Can you swap a complete ignition barrel & key?

[Infrogneto]

Sooooo... I bought a complete bnz caravelle for a parts car, reason being I have 2 lwb bpc 4 motions & 1.9 2wd
It has no key, barrel hanging down with something snapped off inside.
If I got another complete barrel and matching key would it work?
It would be nice to know it runs and can be moved around

[Infrogneto]

*Update* Almost gave up on the idea... Thinking of finding a wrecking yard letting me remove an ignition or they remove for an extortionary price put me off, I'm a bit of a tip shop regular and when a table of random stuff has a complete t5 ignition with key & lable looking you in the face....Whaaaaat!!!
hooked it up this arvo, after a few tries starts nice runs for 2 seconds ..does it need to be remapped/ reprogrammed to this key?

[Greg Roles]

*Update* Almost gave up on the idea... Thinking of finding a wrecking yard letting me remove an ignition or they remove for an extortionary price put me off, I'm a bit of a tip shop regular and when a table of random stuff has a complete t5 ignition with key & lable looking you in the face....Whaaaaat!!!
hooked it up this arvo, after a few tries starts nice runs for 2 seconds ..does it need to be remapped/ reprogrammed to this key?

Yep. I believe there's a transponder in the key fob that the ring in the ignition barrel has to match, so you best get on Fleabay and find a matching set, or price a mobile guy to code a new key to your existing barrel.

[The_Hawk]

The key has a chip, the barrel has a reader (which can read any chip), but the computer has to accept the particular chip in a key.
I also have a vague memory that the cluster is tied to this in some way? Maybe the cluster holds the list of accepted key chips?

In any case, with the later model stuff my understanding is that VW have to program the immobiliser and it's not something you can do yourself (unless you pull all the required and matched parts from one car and put them in another).

I believe that when a 3rd party locksmith place creates an extra key for you they are simply cloning your key chip rather than coding your car to accept a new key chip. If you don't have a working key you're out of luck.


Here is at least one source that seems to say that:
programing used keyfob | VW GTI MKVI Forum / VW Golf R Forum / VW Golf MKVI Forum / VW GTI Forum - Golfmk6.com

[MIG]

Depending on the year of the T5 it will have a VDO or NEC cluster, which holds the keys programmed to it. the three parts to the immobiliser are the engine ECU, Cluster and Key chip( id48 ). these all are matched via a CS code and locked (this is why you can't reuse keys)

To add a key, the clusters eeprom has to be read and a new key added, then the new key gets programmed with the matching CS code and everything works.

VW has these codes on file and allows pre-coding of newly ordered keys.

Any auto locksmith will be able to generate a new one, but the swapping clusters won't work as the ECU won't match.

PS: The cloning technique mentioned above is now a thing because ID48 security was cracked, but it requires a working key and sniffing the RFID data between the key and the barrel.

[Infrogneto]

Many thanks to your replies... It's a 2008 model, I also have a blank uncut key which came with my 08 4 motion so I'll get a locky to come visit...