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broken key in car door
hey guys,
i broke my car key off in the door about 2 years ago, and am finally getting annoyed enough to want to fix it. how would i go about doing that without having to take the car in, or do i not have a choice? thanks! |
no room for some really fine needle nose plyers? Is there enough within reach to maybe use some crazy glue or other super metal adhesive to glue to the remenant to pull the key out?
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nope. the broken part is entirely inside the tumbler/thingy. nothing is sticking out.
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Take the door panel off and unclip the clip that holds the rod that actuates the door lock mechanism from the lock, then remove the rod...... the lock itself is held in by a flat spring steel clip, take a pair of pliers and grab onto the curved end and slide it out..... then pull the lock out of the front side of the door.
Then you can do one of two things.... take the lock to a locksmith and have him open the lock up and remove the broken key, or go to the dealership and buy a new lock..... they're pretty cheap. one trick you can try is to spray WD-40 in the lock and tap the lock on something like a vise thats opened up a little bit, if you're lucky the broken key just might pop out. It's worth a try..... :D |
One more thing..... I can tell you how to do the whole thing yourself but it can be a little tricky, but if you're brave here's how it goes..... after you get the lock out, look on the side of the lock, there will be a small rectangular clip..... this is what holds the tumblers in place (this is what they look like http://home.howstuffworks.com/question710.htm ) just a few springs and tumblers..... if you take a small jewelers screwdriver you can gently pop the clip off and remove the springs and tumblers, the trick is to take the clip off slowly so the tumblers don't jump out and get mixed up..... if you have gotten this far you pretty much have it made, you just remove each tumbler keeping them in order..... then you just give the lock a tap and the key will fall out, you might have to open the little dust cover if the key is behind it but thats easy with the little screwdriver.... then you just put the tumblers back in place and pop the clip back on. Try a good key and if it works you know you got everything right :) then just put the lock back in :D
It's actually really easy.... you just have to be careful. |
Jeez Ashton! Way too complicated..... Just push the car onto its side and tap the car gently against the drivway!
HA! |
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Ashton's way is the best, but if you can't or won't try it there's one last thing you can try that probably won't work (depends on the lock and the situation). There are key extracters made for locksmiths and one of them is pretty much a short length of coping saw blade in a holder.
When there's room to do it you push the blade into the lock past the broken key and use the teeth to pull out the key. I don't give good odds on this working, but you can try to rig one from a saw blade and see how it does. You'd be better off disassembling the lock or having a pro take care of it. |
thanks guys! i'm gonna give ashton's way a try this monday i think, we'll see how it goes. i'd try zook's method (it's an escort, after all) but i don't want to damage the drive way. :)
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Magnetic screwdriver. Use a straightpin to hold the little flap open if the key is too far in.
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I don't know of any car key that is made out of steel. They're plated brass or nickle. Magnet won't work.
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they make broken key extractors, pretty much a smal flat needle with a spear type hook at the end, maye be you can fahion one out of a paper clip? just my thought
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well, my current plan is to fix the door tommorrow. i'm gonna look at the book tonight on how to take the door apart, and then take both doors apart, switch the locks, and then sometime in the near future get the lock actually fixed. but at least i won't have to keep climbing through the passenger side to unlock it. might not be done till monday though.
thanks for the suggestions guys. |
Any good news yet???? Or have you yet to try my idea? hehehe
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Have you tried tweezers?
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thanks for all the advice guys! |
Usually all you have to do is crank the window down, remove the screws from the armrest, then the clip that holds the window crank on, then then take the screw out that holds the door handle cover on..... pop the slide control that unlocks or locks the door off, then remove the cover. all you have to do next is slide your fingers under the bottom edge of the corner of the door panel and gently pull back while running your fingers along and popping each plastic clip out, then lift the panel off the door.
/note.... sometimes there's a couple of sneaky screws at the bottom or sides of the panel. |
Hmmmm, found some page where this guys explains how to pull the panels to paint the side mirrors......
To start off the first thing you are going to need to do is remove the door panel. For those of you who do not know how to I am going to explain. If you have power windows you are in luck, if not it is ok it just makes the job a little bit harder. The first thing you need to do is remove the door handle section. To do this all that is needed is the removal of two phillips head screws. These screws are located behind the two covers on the handle section(you can't miss them, they simply pop off). Once this is removed the door handle simply pulls off. If you have power windows or door locks simply disconnect the connector and it comes off. If you do not have the power window option you need to remove the handle to the window next. This is held on by a metal clip that pops off with a flat head screw driver. I must let you know ahead of time that it is not that easy to take off but it can be done. Once those two pieces have been removed the next step is to remove the entire door panel. This can be done by removing the two screw clips on the end of the door as well as the two at the begining of the door. Once these are removed you need to pop the plastic clips out of the door frame. I know this sounds confusing but let me explain. On the back of the door panel there are plastic clips. These plastic clips are snapped into the door itself and therfore helps hold the panel on. In certain cases these are easy to snap out however in a majority of cases it isn't easy to remove. All that is needed for those stubborn snaps is a flat head screw driver. Simply insert behind the rubber seal and pry. Be careful around the area that has the cubby hole. It has a tendancy to stick so just insert the screwdriver behind the center of it and then pry back. Once the snaps are removed the door panel is ready to come off. It simply slides up until it is over the door lock then can be taken off. |
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Using an old t shirt, hold the hem and slide it under the handle.. pull left and right whilst rotating the shirt (or handle) the clip will fall out when it catches on the shirt. Careful u don't lose the clip!!!! Try it! |
Dude if you've been dealing with it for two years....let it go!
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hey, just a warning. you never want to use wd40 near (especially inside!) a lock according to a locksmith friend. once the lubing effects wear off it seems to gum up the works and cause a lot of problems. stick to graphite.
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