Golf V6 MK4 Key replacement

More cylinders, more better!!!

Well well well, what do we have here?

It’s the classic German V6 configuration in the front of the Golf MK4. This one is 4-wheel drive.

This unfortunate customer lost the keys to the vehicle so they called me for a replacement key. Ironically I arrived in a V6-powered German vehicle also, with slightly more power, their car has 201 BHP and our van has 250 BHP, a close match! However, we should win every battle (except getting up a muddy hill)

201 BHP was quite impressive in the year 2000, with no turbo to help performance.

I arrived on scene rather swiftly after receiving the call, picked and decoded the lock and cut the key blade, prepared the chip and remote and then got into the Golf, with nice leather seats to program the key.

Unfortunately, I was unable to retrieve the relevant information from the vehicle cluster to program a key. We used a multitude of key programmers without success by the car onboard diagnostic port.

The immobiliser data is held in the microchip behind the cluster (speedometer ). Now usually at this point I would remove the cluster and perform the relevant soldering techniques to gain the data. However, this particular cluster type is quite old and the plastic is extremely brittle.

When taking this cluster apart the plastic can easily snap into pieces, this is a big problem given the age of the part. Finding a new identical part and programming it is extremely costly and time-consuming.

At this point, I decided to refer the customer to the dealership and provide a recovery truck. If the dealership breaks it they can fix it there!

Some tasks are simply not worth the risk.

A rare instance of having to walk away from a job, but I can sleep easy tonight.

Thanks for reading, and if on the very chance you are considering purchasing a V6 V8 or even V10, I just absolutely encourage you to do so! more cylinders, more better!