Too Many Keys

Originally published July 19th, 2009.

Too many keys? Ya, too many keys….hanging out of your cars ignition.

We’ve touched on reasons for auto ignition failures before and heres another bit of information to make your car that much more worry free.

Heavy or or overstuffed key rings are probably the largest contributor to auto ignition failure. Imagine if you would taking 2 pieces of metal and rubbing them together for a couple of minutes. OK not much happens here. Now take those same pieces of metal and rub them together a couple of hours a day and do that every day for a couple of months. Notice anything now. Not that you are really going to do this, but imagine what would happen to them if you did. You would most likely see substantial wear on them. Much the same thing happens in your car’s ignition and key when you have a heavy key ring. Fixing the key isn’t too bad. Most locksmiths can cut you a key back to factory specifications and have you on your way in a reasonably short amount of time and at not too much expense.  If you  have a “chip” key the cost can go up substantially. However, when an ignition fails it can be a whole new ball game. Ignitions, even ones that don’t use chip keys can be quite expensive. Most brands of autos use the same ignition for cars with and without chip keys. The difference is the antenna near the ignition that picks up the signal from the key.

Locksmiths are not the only ones who fix ignitions. Some mechanics do as well. The difference is most mechanics will put in a randomly keyed ignition and you end up with 2 keys to what should be a one key car. A locksmith, well I can’t say all, but most will key the new ignition back to the original key so you still have a one key car.

I will admit that there are several autos out there that have ignitions in them that are prone to premature failure no matter how careful you are. And failure doesn’t necessarily mean that the ignition will not turn on. I’ve replaced many GM ignitions that failed due to a sensor in the lock. In this case the key will turn on, however, you get a “no crank” situation and a blinking “theft” indicator on the instrument cluster.

Some ways to keep from causing to much wear on your ignition are.

Have a separate key ring with just your ignition, door key and remote on.Use a quick disconnect or release type key ring so you can detach you ignition key from the rest of the ring when being used in you vehicle.

Quick Release Key Ring

We do not advise simply leaving your key in the ignition in your car. This is just inviting auto theft and many insurance companies will not cover a claim when an auto is stolen in this situation.

A Key Should Only Be Put In Locks or Your Pocket...

Originally published June 25th, 2009

…there are a few other places you can put keys too, however, there are several places that they should not be put as well.  This may sound a little gross, but one place they should not be put is in your ears. In my business I re-key, fix and replace many locks and have personally fixed and replaced several that failed due to……….ear wax. I’ll be the first to admit that the first time I came across this and realized what this was that clogged the lock up I felt rather nauseous. It still do, but like everything else you deal with from day to day you build up a tolerance for it.

Automobile ignition  locks are the only place that I come across this problem. Customers will sometimes ask “What was wrong with my lock?” Our reply is normally that we found a waxy substance in the lock prohibiting the movement of the tumblers and advise them not to put their keys anyplace but their pocket or in the lock. Even though I’ve really thought about it I’ve yet to give the reply, “The problem is you clean your ears with your keys.”

As funny as it sounds its really no laughing matter. Ignition lock fails can leave you stranded at the worst times and cost hundreds of dollars to fix. The best way to keep this from happening is to only use your keys for what they are intended for, operating a lock. Not cleaning your ears, scraping dirt, opening cans ect. If you realize that you have gotten something on your keys, stop, don’t put it in the lock. Use a clean cloth or paper towel and wipe the key off. If its sticky and won’t come off by wiping it use a mild cleaner on the blade of the key only. I do not recommend cleaning the electronic part of remote head or electronic keys with any kind of cleaning solution. Follow these simple rules and they can help you avoid some costly repairs.

You Want Me To Do What?

This was probably my most popular post. This was originally posted on June 13th, 2009,

When I said we make keys to all kinds of things at Steve’s Lock Out  I mean ALL KINDS and this job we took on proves it. I would consider this job probably the most unusual I’ve ever done.

JR Brown Mausoleum

I was approached by a local organization that had been given the responsibility of being care takers of a Mausoleum at Oakwood Cemetery. Over the years the key had managed to disappear and it was time to do some maintenance and cleaning and without the key they had no way of entering.

Just an interesting note, atleast to me, my great-grandfather was caretaker of this cemetery.

I considered this a unique challenge and jumped at the chance although not sure exactly how to tackle this job. I had not worked with a lock of this type and age before. I managed to find another locksmith in another part of the US that had opened one similar to this and had a little infomation on the construction of the lock.

Bronze Mausoleum Doors

                                                                                                                                                             
To replace these doors now would cost in excess of $6,000 so I made careful planning as to how I was going to do the opening. I tried picking the lock for some time to no avail. Between the shear size of the bolt and picking deterrents built into the lock it was futile. This lock is similar to the lever lock we wrote about making the key to on the 8th of June only this one was much larger and had “teeth” on the levers that meshed together so when one lever was picked it was nearly impossible to move the next one to the proper position. It made it obvious that we were going to have to drill an access hole to be able to pick this lock.

A closer picture of the keyhole

The date on the mausoleum and what we could see here are the only clues that we had about this lock. From what information that was gathered we took our measurements, checked them again and then began to drill.

Access hole drilled

Although it is hard to tell from the picture we came in within 1/32 of an inch of where we needed to be. This was close enough for what we needed to do.

Door Opened

After we got the hole drilled it took about 10 minutes to get the lock picked. Here is a picture of the door opened looking at the edge of the lock.

A big lock

As you can see this is a rather large lock. Being solid brass I estimate it weighed about 7 pounds.

The Lock Removed

Here the lock is removed and the screws are placed back in the door as to not loose them.

Temporarily secure

We needed to temporarily secure the doors while we made the key. I had this cable lock in my service vehicle. It worked out pretty well.

Key for the mausoleum

We did not have an appropriate key blank to use in this situation. We made this key from some flat stock with a washer welded to the end for a head and then proceeded to put the cuts on the key.

Hole plugged

Here we have plugged the hole with an appropriately sized piece of metal rod and sanded the sureface. It stands out now, however, with weathering will soon blend in.

Door and key are finished

Here we have a picture of the finished job with the key inserted into the lock.