I need some help here, I let a friend barrow my truck and he put the ignition key in upside down, and it got stuck half way in the cylinder. He tried to get it out and broke half of it off down in there. Its in a Wal-mart parking lot. Can anyone give me a quick run down of whats involved to get the lock cylinder out so I can extract the key? Also, what tools will I need to get that apart? I need to bring as much as possible with me, since its a little ways from my house, I don't want to make 10 trips to get more tools.

Thanks for any help,
Jason

 

How did you get a truck with one-sided keys ??


All I have ever seen have no upside-down.

 

well mine is special I guess, it was one of the first ones built, the build date was in 1988 so maybe that has something to do with it? Either way its a one way deal!

Jason

 

old trucks have the old key, if it has the old grill.
if you can turn the wheel without the key on, the accuall ignition switch i think is down on the colum with a rod running to it.

you might beable to pull the broke off key out with some pliers

 

Steering wheel puller and an assortment of screwdrivers. There's a little slot near the back of the cylinder that lets you unlatch the lock cylinder, you need a skinny flat blade screwdriver for that. But you gotta pull the steering wheel and the turn signal switch first.

 

A steering wheel puller? Great, this is going to be some fun at the old wal-mart! I know I could hot wire the truck to get it running, but that doesn't help me when the steering wheel locks!

Thanks all for the help.
Jason

 

Shouldn't even take an hour, it's really not that bad.

 

Believe it or not,
Another trade I have mastered is Locksmith.

Before you try and pull the lock cylinder apart see if you can pull out the broken piece.

I have an assortment of tools for this but what works the best is something you can easly make yourself, a broken key extraction tool.

Like MacGyver I have made these in the field and have removed many a broken keys over the years.

This also works on any type of lock.

Take a new hacksaw blade and using a pair of Aviation Snips cut the end of the blade about 2" back, now cut a taper from the width down to the end while cutting the backside and leaving the side with the teeth.

It is important to have the teeth pointing from the point to the wide side; you want this to resemble the barb of a swordfish if you can picture this.

Now either put on a pair of gloves or wrap some tape around the handle so you don't cut yourself.

Now you can carefully probe the inside of the keyway with this pick and the sharp teeth will grab onto the piece if the broken key and with a bit of effort you can extract the broken end.

Try to reach in alongside the broken piece in the keyway and using the sharp tooth grab onto the piece and work it out towards you.

Work carefully so you don’t snap off the end and loose it along with the key, if it gets dull simply snip yourself another pick.

I usually leave several of there in strategic placed in my truck for emergency use.

Give this a try before you tear it apart, it has always worked for me.
Jim

 

JIM DANDY to the rescue again !!!!!


That is brilliant.

I can't wait until someone around here snaps a key off in something (so long as it ain't in any of my stuff).