First thing to try is to buff it just a bit, especially if the edges are rough on the key. Use a piece of sandpaper if you don't have access to a buffing wheel. Sometimes, this will allow it to work. I'll go ahead and figure you've tried the key in all of the cylinders and not just one.
The cylinders on your vehicle can be rekeyed either at a locksmith, or most dealerships. Some dealerships (usually the smaller ones) don't have anyone who knows how to work on lock cylinders, and will send them out to a local locksmith, so call and ask to be sure before taking it there, and ask specifically if they do the work or if they send it out.
To rekey them, they will have to remove each cylinder, which will get expensive in labor. If you take them out yourself (if you know how) you could take them in to have them rekeyed and save some money.
In order to rekey the cylinder, you need to know the depth of the cuts on the key (cuts are 1 to 4, 1 being hardly anything at all, 4 being the deepest). Someone who's done it a lot can just look at the key and tell you what the cuts are, otherwise, they use a gauge to measure the depth of each cut. Dealership may use the key code to get the cut depths, and in some cases, the code is actually stamped on the cylinder itself, which can then be changed over to the cut depths.
If the cylinder has the code stamped on it, then you can get a key made for the vehicle using that code, take it to the dealer and give them the code to cut the key to (locksmith could do it to, but usually more expensive).
A good locksmith might be able to cut a key for it without having to remove a cylinder. This is something to call around and ask some of the local locksmiths if they can do.
BTW, if you happen to have all of the original paperwork for the vehicle, then you should have the key code for it in that paperwork. There should be either a tag with it stamped on it, or a small plastic zip-loc style bag with the key code printed on it, and it's usually somewhere in the paperwork, too. But not too many people have all of the original paperwork complete on a vehicle that old.
2007-10-30 17:04:23
·
answer #1
·
answered by Mark B 6
·
1⤊
0⤋
TAKE THE KEY BACK OR BUFF OFF THE EDGES SLIGHTLY.
REPLACING THE TUMBLERS BY YOURSELF WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE IT IS NOT AS EASY AS YOU THINK.
IF EVERYTHING WAS WORKING BEFORE YOU LOST THE KEY THEN DO AS I STATED ABOVE.
2007-10-31 02:23:14
·
answer #2
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋