Automotive Broken Key Extraction

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Merkur Key Make

There were many times as a locksmith technician that I got called to service a vehicle which was not very common in the market. This was mostly true for older vehicles which were mostly distributed in Europe with some of them being available here in the U.S. When it came to unlocking some of theses uncommon vehicles, the job was no different than unlocking most of other vehicle models from the same year. However, making a key or doing an ignition service was a different story.

I remember a while back I got a call from a customer who owned an 89 Merkur  XR4Ti. The customer claimed he has lost all the keys to the vehicle and could not find any other company that would be able to make a key for it. Being a locksmith technician with great experience in making vehicle's keys, I decided to take the job. Before heading to the customer, I had to review the manuals making sure I have a blank key for it and for a way to get the code for making the key.

After reviewing the manual, I determined that my only options for getting the code in order to make the key was either through the driver's side door lock, or through the trunk which would have been tricky to get to without a key. Once I got to the customer's location, I first had to unlock the car which didn't take much effort. I then started dissembling the door panel which took a while, but when I finally was able to access the lock, I noticed that there was no code stamped on it.  

Since I didn't want to take the chance of risking more time dissembling the passenger side door to access the lock for the code, I decided to call Portland locksmith a co-worker of mine who had a little more experience than I did making keys for older vehicles. As I was starting telling him the story about that vehicle I was servicing, he stopped me and said that I could have saved a lot of effort if I just went for the glove box lock to get the code.

Even though the manual did not mention anything about getting a code for the glove box lock, it seemed to be an option as well. Not only it didn't take much effort removing the lock which was only held by a clip, unlike the door lock, this one did have the code stamped on it. After getting the code, I was finally able to make the key which tested successfully.

Commercial Locks Leading Manufacturers

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GM 6 Cut Key Make

Originating vehicle's keys is something most locksmith technicians should know. It is a very common service in which customers would usually prefer to call a locksmith technician than the dealership since the cost most likely will be lower and they won't have to get their vehicle towed anywhere. There are many ways and tricks for making vehicles keys, but most of the time it will be depend on the make and model. Some vehicles will have one key that will operate all the locks in the vehicle including the ignition, but some vehicles will have 2 keys, one for the ignition and one for the door/trunk/glove box lock.

A few years ago when I just learned automotive ignition and key origination services, I got a call from a customer to make a door key for his 95 Camaro Z28. The customer mentioned that he lost the key a while back, but was not worried about it until now that is FOB stopped working. These types of older GM vehicles use 2 keys, one that is used for the ignition and one for the other locks in the vehicles. Since I knew it wasn't a big deal to make a door key for this make and model since it didn't required touching the steering wheel and the ignition, I decided to take the job.

I started heading to the customer's home, but not before confirming I had the right key blank in stock. Once I got to the customer's address, I went through the guides I had for information about the vehicle and what I would need to do to make the key for the door and saw that I needed to take apart the door panel and other hardware to get to the lock and read the stamped code that was on it. Although my other option was progressioning, I was not confident enough I would be able to properly progress all 6 cuts of the key, so I decided to go with the usual route of getting to the door key.

As I started to remove the door panel, I ran across some stubborn screws that were holding the arm rest in place and since without removing it I couldn't get the door panel off, I had to keep trying and working on the screws. Unfortunately, someone before me who attempted to remove the door panel (possibly to replace the power motor) has stripped the arm rest bolts which prevented me from removing them.

Since I couldn't think of another way to originate a door key for the customer's vehicle, I decided to call a Portland locksmith co-worker of mine to see if he could come and help. Unfortunately, he was caught up doing a different job, but he did have a helpful advice for me. Something that I didn't thought about was going with the glove box lock which was very simple to remove. Although the glove box only used 4 out of the 6 cuts, all I needed to do was to progress the remaining 2 cuts which I didn't have any problem doing .  

Decorative Locks and Handle-Sets

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Simplex Jam

There were many times as a locksmith technician where I got call-backs for services I did. There were no particular jobs I would get the call-back for, it may have been a key I just mad for a vehicle that failed to work for undetermined reason, a new lock that failed operation after a short period of time, or other types of jobs. Most of the time I would be able to figure out what went wrong, but there were few times where I would stand scratching my head trying to figure out the issue where I'm sure happened before to other locksmith technicians in the field..

I remember few summers ago right around the time there was a few weeks of heat wave in Portland area, I got a call from a restaurant downtown to install a key-less entry Simplex lock which is very common for updated commercial applications and saves the hassle of dealing with pesky keys. I had the chance to install few of those before and actually had a couple in stock, so I took the restaurant information and headed its way.

Once I got to the restaurant location, the manager showed me around and took me to where he wanted the Simplex lock to be installed which was on the kitchen's back door where there was a high traffic of employees coming and going.  The install went well, and after finishing, I programmed a combination for the manager, and explained him how to use the lock. I then was on my was for another job.

Couple of days after the restaurant service, I got a call from the restaurant's manager claiming he was not able to operate the lock and instead he had to pry the door open which destroyed the latch. I stopped at one of my lock suppliers on the way to the restaurant to pick up another lever. After getting to the restaurant, I installed the new lever, entered the combination and everything seemed to work perfectly fine.

A day later, I got another call from the restaurant with the same complaint that they could not get the door open. I then asked them no to try anything until I get there, and started heading there as soon as I got off the phone. Once I got there, I examined the lock and enter the combination and it did not opened. A this point, I called another Portland locksmith co-worker of mine and see if he had any issues before with these Simplex locks.

After getting my co-worker on the phone, he did mentioned that these Simplex locks tend to malfunction if exposed to extreme heat. I then made a quick second look and noticed that there was a direct sun light on the metal door going through the kitchen window. I did noticed that the door was very hot when examining the lock. I then had an idea to examining the theory by getting a hose and cool the door a little. Once I did that, the lock functioned with no issues. I recommended the restaurant manager to install some type of window blinds, so this issue won't happen again.

Ignition Services

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