Car keys · Caledon
Ignition Lock Repair
Half the key is still in your hand. The other half stayed behind in the ignition when it snapped, and now the dash won't light and the wheel won't unlock no matter how carefully you nudge what is left.
Ignition Lock Repair
In plain words
A key that has snapped off inside the ignition barrel is not the end of the key, or of the barrel. The broken piece is drawn out with hooked or spiral tools built for the job, without pushing it further in, and the cylinder is checked afterward for the wear that likely caused the break in the first place. A fresh key is then cut and tested before the visit ends.
How the visit goesA scrape sits beside the ignition slot, left by whoever tried the vehicle overnight in the driveway. The key that used to start it now does nothing at all, and the housing itself feels looser than it should.
Caledon
How the visit goes
Looking for signs of an earlier attempt
Scratches around the slot, a loose-feeling housing, or a barrel that spins without any of the usual resistance can mean somebody already tried the lock before the locksmith arrived. Noting this before starting matters for two reasons: it changes the repair, since a lock that has been forced usually needs full replacement rather than a simple service, and it gives the owner an honest account of what was already there rather than what happened during this particular visit.
Servicing the cylinder in place first
The first option is always the least invasive one: cleaning out the keyway, freeing a wafer that has stuck in a raised position, and lubricating the mechanism so the existing cylinder goes back to turning the way it should. This keeps the original hardware on the vehicle and avoids cutting a new key altogether when the fault turns out to be wear or contamination rather than a broken part. Only when this fails to restore normal behaviour does the barrel come out of the column.
A key that runs through every position smoothly
The visit ends with the ignition cycling cleanly from off through accessory, on and start, and back again, with the steering lock engaging and releasing as it should. The locksmith walks through this with you, the engine started and shut off more than once, so you see for yourself that the barrel is answering the key properly and consistently before anyone drives away from the property.
Ignition Lock Repair
In the van
- Retaining pins and clips
- Broken key extractors
- Cylinder decoder
- Pick and tension tools
- Plug follower
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Service in place versus full replacement
Cleaning, freeing and lubricating an existing cylinder is a lighter job than removing a barrel that is cracked, seized or too worn to trust, pinning a new one, and refitting everything around it afterward.
2A key broken off inside the barrel
Extracting a snapped key fragment adds its own step before any other work can begin, and the cylinder is then checked for the wear that likely caused the break in the first place.
3Time needed to test every position
Cycling the ignition through every switch position and the steering lock, more than once, with the engine started and stopped to confirm the repair holds, adds a small amount of time on top of the repair.
Ignition Lock Repair: questions
Is my vehicle's security system disabled while this work is happening?
No part of the vehicle's electronic security system is bypassed or defeated as part of a mechanical ignition repair. The locksmith works on the physical cylinder and its housing, and any question involving the immobilizer or transponder system is identified and referred rather than worked around, so the vehicle's built-in protection stays exactly as it was designed to work.
My key is stuck in the ignition and won't come out. Is that a problem?
It is mostly inconvenient rather than urgent, though it is worth having looked at soon since a stuck key often means a wafer or the steering-lock mechanism is not releasing the way it should. Forcing it risks snapping the key or damaging the barrel further, so the safer route is to leave it be and have the mechanism assessed and freed properly.
How do you tell the cylinder apart from the switch behind it?
The cylinder is the part the key physically touches and turns; the switch is the electrical component behind it that responds to each position. The locksmith checks whether the barrel itself moves cleanly through every stop and whether the dash and starter respond at the right moments. When the barrel turns properly but the response is missing, the switch or wiring is a likely cause, though the battery, starter and park/neutral circuit are checked too before settling on it.
Car Keys
Ignition Lock Repair near you
A locksmith's week in Caledon is a mix of small fixes and bigger decisions. A cylinder rekeyed after a lost key, a deadbolt added to a door that never had one, a shop rekeyed after staff changes, a safe that finally opens. The pages below describe each service and how the visit usually goes.