stolen? / Lost key

[craigl]

hi all,


Please excuse my poor grammer below, it's been a long day...


I need a little advice to help safegauard my job. Unfortunately I left a set of keys for my employers sprinter in my truck overnight at home. Would you believe it it was broken into, my first experience of auto crime in 12yrs of motoring. Virtually the only thing taken was the sprinter keys... there is a small possibility that it was a member of the household who has taken the keys, likely for the hassle caused but it's impossible to prove. Either way the keys are long gone. Sprinter is a uk 413 (i think) late 2003 model, no remote entry on keys.

Having researched on here am I correct in thinking that MB or maybe my employers own workshops can reprogram the system to accept a new key, the other remaining keys and ignore the stolen one? I'm aware the stolen key will gain entry through the doors but as this sprinter is a minibus there's never anything stored inside when not in use.

Clarfication / advice would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[sikwan]

Having researched on here am I correct in thinking that MB or maybe my employers own workshops can reprogram the system to accept a new key, the other remaining keys and ignore the stolen one? I'm aware the stolen key will gain entry through the doors but as this sprinter is a minibus there's never anything stored inside when not in use.

Clarfication / advice would be gratefully appreciated.

According to this thread...

https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2701

...you are right to conclude that it is possible, but with the right tool (DRBIII). The thread talks about the RKE (remote keyless entry) resyncing, but there are a couple of posts that talk about the "immobilizer" or SKREEM being reprogrammed.

 

[autostaretx]

I believe the system can be told to "forget" a key... at worst it's only able to "learn" (i think) 8 simultaneous keys.

Since the stolen key will still be able to open the doors and crank the starter, it's still a pain having it floating loose.
You can have any competent locksmith "retumble" the cylinders, and cut new keys to match.
Then keep the -old- and -new- (can be "metal only", an Ilco MB-17 keyblank will work) keys on the same ring.
The old key will satisfy the security system, and the new key will turn the cylinder and start the van.

With retumbled cylinders, the stolen key won't be able to enter the doors or crank the starter, so it's less of an issue that it's still viewed as "friendly" by the security system.

You could just retumble the exterior locks, which would frustrate "simple entry", but that would still leave the vehicle at risk for outright theft (although the thief may not realize that only the outer doors were changed).

good luck
--dick

 

[craigl]

thanks for the info so far. Our sprinter doesn't have remote entry via a key fob nor does it seem to have an alarm system of any kind -there's no central locking which seems to preclude having the vtss system.

Am i right then in presuming our sprinter 'just' has a basic transponder in the key itself? The keys are the type with the plain black plastic head embossed with the mb logo. If so then I can't see the system using the rolling code system as theres no 2 way communication between key and vehicle - the transponder ring just reads the code on the chip inside the key head.

If so then hopefully the sloution could just be to tell the system to ignore the missing key and code a new one to match. Even at mb rates that hopefully will cost me a coulpe of hundred quid as opposed to the thousands figure I've been told to expect - an autoelectrician I spoke to told me MB vans needed new 'computers' when new keys were made.

Oh well I'm not looking forward to my conversation with my boss this morning..... Ones thing for sure i'll triple check in future that I never leave keys anywhere unsafe.

 

[autostaretx]

Am i right then in presuming our sprinter 'just' has a basic transponder in the key itself?

Yes.

If so then hopefully the sloution could just be to tell the system to ignore the missing key and code a new one to match.

Yes... i just dug through the service manual, and it says:
"When a transmitter is lost, it is necessary to disable the affected transmitter so that it can no longer be used to operate the vehicle. It will then be necessary to program a new transmitter to the vehicle."

They're referring to the remote there, but the word "operate" leads me to assume the same procedure can be used to disable just the RFID chip authority, too.

My guess is that the procedure will require -all- of your still-valid keys to be present, since they'll probably do an "erase" and then "re-introduce" all of the remaining "good' keys.

It will probably take about 15 minutes (plus 5 minutes of "you did what?" ribbing).

Somewhere/when i've read the "how to introduce a new key" procedure, but i can't find it at the moment.

good luck
--dick

 

[craigl]

thanks again to everyone who replied, it's always good to know there an effective knowledge base out there with helpful people.

Work didn't take it too badly today, we'll have to see what the repercussions might be after the school holidays when things return to 'normal'. I've offered to meet the cost of resupply / reprogram new keys - although it sounds like they won't take this up - we have no specific guidance beyond good common sense on key security and I did take reasonable care of them - locked in a locked glove box inside a dead locked 4x4.

If the workshops keep me in the loop i'll post the outcome asap.

thanks again



craig