2005 v50 t5? got a key error friday when i left work (dropped my keys which should not have caused an issue). managed to get it started after multiple tries and got home. got it to start twice saturday in the driveway, but now nothing. changed out the ignition switch and you hear activity under the hood and the interior lights come on, but nothing occurs on the dashboard. any ideas?

 

Without a scan tool and the appropriate access to modules, your best solution is to see the dealer.

 

My car is having the same exact problem after I dropped my key and I also changed the ignition switch.

 

Two things...

One, if you have only one key, your troubleshooting is going to be more difficult. If you have two keys, try the other one.

Two, if you drop your key and it no longer works, I'd say there's a 99.8% chance that the key-related problem that occurs immediately is the KEY. Changing out the ignition switch was most likely a waste of time and money (and could have introduced new problems).

 

Thank you for the response..
Yes I only have the one key which been hell to trouble shoot. Also that’s exactly what I thought I started with the key and bought a new FOB case and transferred over the motherboard thinking maybe the the plastic got messed up from the drop but that didn’t work. So I figure I’d just buy a brand new key from the dealership and get it programmed. Come to find out only the dealer can program them, so I had to get the car towed to the dealership for them to program it. I waiting there for like 4 hours and then they finally come back to me and say that they can’t connect to the car so they think it’s the ignition switch and they think it had nothing to do with dropping the key (which I thought was a huge coincidence) but anyway they were trying to charge me $700+ to do the work so I just towed the car back home. I bought a new ignition switch and installed it myself and the same problem occurred. Not sure what else it could be I feel like I tried everything unless the dealership tried to program the broken key and not the new one.

 

Do you have an illuminated key symbol (green, IIRC) on the dash when you try to start the car?

There's a small transponder chip inside the key - it's not terribly fragile, but dropping it can (and in your case, most likely did) break it. Once that happens, the immobilizer system in the car no longer recognizes the key, so won't start the car.

Of course, the stealership should be able to program a new key. I'm really (!) suspicious of their diagnosis, though. The switch itself is unlikely to cause a problem. What CAN cause a problem is if the little "antenna" that's near (part of?) the transponder "reader" is bad. I don't know if that gets replaced when you swap out the ignition switch.

The bad news is that if the old key is bad, you are at the mercy of the stealership, and have no alternative to having them program it to work with your car. The fact that they claim there are other problems (which could be true, or could be them misdiagnosing the issue) just complicates it. I'm not quite sure how you could reasonably proceed in this case without the stealership, sadly. Even if there is a problem beyond the broken key, you won't really be able to do meaningful troubleshooting without having the key programmed (which apparently can't happen until they fix whatever else is wrong).

Ugly situation...

 

Yeah tell me about it I feel like I’ve tried everything. But no nothing happens when I put the key in.. the lights on the shifter illuminate when I turn the key but other than that nothing happens the steering wheel don’t unlock nor does anything work radio, dash, windows, etc. then like 10 seconds it comes up as “Key Error Try Again”. I’m going to try to program the new key again this weekend but I’m only going to bring the new key not the old one. I think they didn’t even try the new one.
I appreciate the response I will keep the forum updated.

 

I play around with some extremely powerful magnets and a couple time my key found its way to one of them. I feared problems but none happened.

 

New mystery. 2001 XC70. Drivers side headlight quit, 'bulb failure, dipped beam' appears on the message screen. Replaced bulb - nope. Checked fuse - good continuity. System voltage OK. Metered the headlight plug and got 1/3rd volt, .3 volts. Had similar problem with trailer lights where all fuses and connectors were good, but had only 3 volts at the trailer plug. Turns out there is a 'trailer light controller', essentially a small computer. Why do trailer lights need a small computer for them, for $135. I wonder if there is a controller for the headlights rather than direct connection wiring. Any ideas?