Date:         Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:06:25 -0700
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Axxess plastic key
In-Reply-To:  <BAY139-W29EEB223C0066D8559587CC6B80@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 4:51 PM, Steve Sandlin <vwcarlocks@hotmail.com>wrote:

> I've read with interest the posts concerning this.  The #43 Axxess key is a
> duplicate of the X9 key which is used on most water-cooled VW's.  It is not
> the same as the Vanagon uses, which is an X110 key.  The grooves are
> oppopsite.


Actually, take a look in your ilco book--- the center milling is essentially
the same, it's just the blade sections of the X9 are offset instead of
centered.


>  If your door locks are extremely worn, it MIGHT go in, but I doubt it.
>  The Axxess brand is used by WalMart, Home Depot, and a few other big box
> stores.  I bought one of the blanks and it would not enter most of the
> Vanagon handles I had in stock.
>

A metal one definitely wouldn't go, but a flimsy plastic pass-all might.
I've never seen an Axxess plastic key, but my boss had one from a different
manufacturer for his BMW, and it was a thin, largely keyway-agnostic blank,
with the center milling only vaguely represented. If the Axxess plastic keys
are the same, it very well might go in. It's possible, given that Axxess #43
is the only VW key they have. Then again, it might not.


> A better solution....Get a real CORRECT key.  Cut two slots in an old
> credit card and slip the key through the slots
>

The funniest solution I've seen is a coathanger, untwisted, stuck through
the key head and then folded up into a springy bundle about 16 inches long
and crammed into the hollow bumper. Not only does the key open your door,
but the coathanger can open OTHER people's doors in a pinch!

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Lastwagen"
'90 Vanagon GL - "Wiesel"