Over the weekend I lost my only car key 5ft down a street drain. :eek:

Drain water was flowing fairly quickly as it had been raining and it was on a slope so I assumed that was the end of it. I got my car recovered home and made some enquiries on a replacement. After being quoted up to £250 I decided it was worth a shot at getting it back. A couple of days later I returned to the drain and recovered them using a strong magnet on the end of a long stick.

I have cleaned the internals of the key fob, it was full of dirty water, lightly sprayed with wd-40 to repel any water, changed the battery which had started to corrode and dried in the airing cupboard. However, the transponder looks very fragile as if its contained in a glass tube(?) so I havent attempted to remove / clean it. It's coated in dirt from the drain. At the moment all works fine but I'm a bit bothered that corrosion will affect the transponder over time and it will stop working.

Has anyone removed a transponder from the key or recovered keys from a similar situation? Any advice appreciated.

i cant say for deffinate on VAG group keys but most other makes the transponder for the immobiliser is a sealed glass bead in which case you have nothing to worry about

the worst that could happen is the remote functions stop working but you'd still be able to open your car with the key, lock it and start the engine assuming it is a glass bead

getting and programming a new transponder is pretty cheap if you know where to look. have you thought of letting it dry and use a air blower like used for cleaning keyboards to try and blow it clean?

A couple of days later I returned to the drain and recovered them using a strong magnet on the end of a long stick.

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I'm glad you used an extension stick.

I did a confined space training course a couple of weeks back - never realised what deathtraps drains were before that.

Get some servisol safeclens spray and take the circuit out of the key.

Spray it well with this and leave it to dry out. Repeat this a couple of times and then you can put a new battery in and give it a go.

IMHO the immobiliser chip will be fine (as previously stated they are a sealed glass container which operate by radio waves). The remote half may be a different story as thre is a lot more to corrode, but they are pretty easy and cheapish to replace (ebay is a good source). Just make sure you get the correct one (by part number).

Cheers lads, I've used the key today and the transponder has been fine so far. The remote lock/unlock is a bit hit/miss and the range is reduced so you have to be next to the car for it to operate. Still, better than no key at all!

I'm glad you used an extension stick.

I did a confined space training course a couple of weeks back - never realised what deathtraps drains were before that.

not forgetting the rats, I remember poking a stick down one once, and a rat scurried s#it myself