NorthWest Locksmith Portland Ignition Replacement (503) 825-2124

NorthWest Locksmith Portland Ignition Service (503) 825-2124

Automotive Ignition Key Extraction

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Automotive Ignition Service

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Automotive Transponder Systems

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Automotive Re-key Service

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Mercedes Ignition Fix

Sometimes there is a very thin line between what an automotive job a locksmith technician can do and what a job can only be done by a mechanic. This is mostly true when it comes to diagnosing ignition issues with a vehicle. Most of the time an issue with the ignition switch will prevent the user from starting the vehicle which at times can be interpreted as a mechanical issue. However, most of the time, not only a locksmith technician will be able to handle it, but also may save the customer some money as dealership can be very expensive most of the time.

I got a call from  a customer once to come and unlock the trunk of an old Buick Regal he had. I never turn down a lockout job on an old GM vehicle ever since I got my vibrating R&D GM pick tool set which makes the job extremely easy and fast to get done. I took the customer's information and started heading his way.

Once I got to the customer's home, it didn't take me very long to unlock the trunk of his Buick with my vibrating GM pick tool set. When I was done, the customer was so surprised by the ease I did it that he asked me if I could take a look at another vehicle he had. The other vehicle the customer wanted me to look at was a 92 Mercedes Benz 300SL, very nice car. The customer said that he has been having problems with it for a while using the ignition switch. Sometimes the key would turn the ignition, but sometimes he would not be able to make it work. He also mentioned that it works fine on the trunk and doors.

I didn't have much experience working with these old Mercedes models since we normally don't do these type of cars. When I mentioned to him going to dealer, he said that he already did and they wanted a lot of money to repair the problem. I called a Portland locksmith co-worker of mine who I knew had experience with these types of vehicles before. When I got him on the phone, he said that it was a common issue with these older Mercedes since the key is made of steel and the ignition cylinder pins are made of brass which makes them wear in time causing this issue. He said that the ignition cylinder would need to be replaced.

After giving me the instructions how to do it, I took a quick ride to the dealer to get the cylinder I needed to replace. However, in order to to remove the ignition cylinder without taking apart the steering wheel component, I had to turn the ignition to the on position which didn't work because of the issue. I then had an idea to use the GM vibrating pick tool set I had to force the pins to fall at the same time I would turn the key. Fortunately, it worked and I was able to replace the ignition cylinder in no time which made the customer very happy.  

Ignition Switch Repair

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Cougar Key Make

One the aspects of the job I find challenging as a locksmith technician are the automotive services. There were many times where I found myself coming for a job where the customer called with what it seemed to be a simple issue that turned into an hour or more worth of work. Aside from lockout services, most of the automotive services I would get called for are making keys. Sometimes the vehicle would only need one key that would act as a master key operating all the locks in the vehicle including the ignition and sometimes it would require two keys where one operates the door and trunk locks and one would operate the ignition. However, most of the issues I encountered with were when a vehicle required a master key to be made.

I got a call the other day to make a key for a 99 Cougar. I haven't done many keys for these type of vehicle before, but I did several keys for similar Ford models. I knew I only needed to make one key since similar model Fords that I've worked on needed one "master-key" as well. I quickly checked my inventory to make sure I have the correct blanks to do the job and luckily I had two. I then took the customer's information and started heading his way.

Once I got to the customer's location, first thing I did was to verify the exact model of the vehicle to make sure the blanks I had were the correct ones and they were. Next step I had to decided what would be the method i would use to originate the key for the vehicle. Since the lock and ignition cylinders should have been the same, I've used my EZ-Reader tool to get the right cuts off of the door lock cylinder. Once I had the key made, I went ahead and tried it on the ignition switch but without any success.

It seemed as the key I made worked well on the door lock, but not on the ignition. There was a lot of resistant as I was trying to operate the key through all the positions in the switch. I figured that maybe the semi-faulty key was as a result from using the EZ-Reader tool. I then decided to try and progression a key using the last blank I had which did not work as well. As a last resort, I called a Portland locksmith co-worker of mine to see if he had any more blanks and maybe an advice for me.

Luckily, when I got my co-worker on the phone and telling him the story, he mentioned it was a common problem with these types of ignitions on these models. According to him, the solution was very simple. All I needed to do was locate the two screws holding the ignition switch to the rear of the lock housing and slightly release them while the key is in the ignition until the key operation will be smooth. To my surprise, after following my co-worker advice, both keys seemed to work and the customer was satisfied since now he had two keys.

NorthWest Locksmith Portland (503) 825-2124

Transponder Key Fix

Transponder keys are very common throughout the car industry in Europe, and are very much popular in the U.S. as well. I came across a way for servicing one of these units when a key has been broken and a proper blank or a special device to re- program the new key is unavailable. One my fellow locksmith technicians was out working and had to deal with such case of a broken transponder key. He chose to go with this following option as a temporary fix to get the customer back on the road.

The locksmith technician duplicated the key on a compatible key blank by using both pieces of the broken key. Next, he taped the broken bow of the transponder key onto the duplicated key which was without a transponder bow on it. This allowed the vehicle which was a Fiat Punto, to be started and moved to shop that will be able to service and repair it. Our company has used this process in two separate occasions, and I think there is no reason that it would not work for other types of transponder keys as well.

As you may of you noticed by now, the transponder keys adopted a very large bows which is reasonable since the bows contain the electronics that makes this type of system work the way it was intended to. However, this large bow gives the vehicle owner more leverage when turning the key Which may cause a higher rate of broken keys.

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Automotive Lockout Services in Portland

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Automotive Locksmith Service in Portland

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Key Extraction For GEO

We had a job coming one night of a customer that accidentally broke off the tip of the key to her 95 Geo Metro. Although there is not a specific procedure that most locksmith technicians do to take care of the problem, this is what I came up with:

First what I did was to use a blank key and broke the tip of approximately as far back as hers had broken off(if the customer has the remainder of their key, you can use it for this next part) and inserted it into the ignition. This gets the tumblers out of the way. 

Next, I threaded a spiral extractor down each side of the key, using the millings on the key to guide the extractors. 

Then I clamped the key and the extractors together with vice grips, placed as closely to the face of the ignition as I can get them. The key and the extractors should be virtually "welded" together and by the vice-grips. Once that was done, I used a screwdriver handle between the housing and vice grips in leveraged the key and extractors out of the ignition. The tip of the broken key came right along with them.

If you need similar service around Portland area, don't hesitate to call NorthWest Locksmith.

GM Six-Cut Tip

Generating a working door key for a 6 cut GM is easily accomplished by pole in the glove lock. The glove box lock, as many locksmith technicians know, gives four of the six cuts then I progress the other two. What can be difficult is popping the plug out of the “squeeze type” locks. 

Here’s what works quite well for me: I clamp the whole lock case in a vice with the bottom of the plug facing up. Of course I’m careful not to crush the plug. With my rick retaining ring pliers, I spread the plastic tabs which lock into grooves on the sides of the plug-ins for those tabs as far as possible. Next, I use an automatic center punch to pop the plug out. It’s a quick way to do that and doesn't damage the tabs.