Car keys · Aurora
Ignition Lock Repair
The new key from the hardware counter fits the door but stops halfway into the ignition slot, no matter how it is angled or how gently it is pushed.
In plain words
Where the hardware allows it, a replacement or serviced ignition cylinder is pinned to match the key already in your pocket, rather than handing you a second key to keep track of. The same thinking extends to the doors and trunk: if they already share a key with the ignition, the locksmith keeps that arrangement intact, so one key still does everything it did before the visit began.
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.
Ignition Lock Repair
How the visit goes
Reading the exact symptom
The next question is about behaviour, not diagnosis. Does the key insert at all? Does it turn partway, all the way, or not at all? Does it turn without the steering lock releasing, or without the dash lighting up? Is it stuck, unable to come back out once the engine is off? Each answer points somewhere different inside the mechanism, and a locksmith who hears the exact sequence before arriving brings the right decoders, extraction tools and replacement parts rather than guessing from a general description that the key just does not work.
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 cylinder and key with a clean history behind them
Where the ignition showed signs of an earlier forced attempt, the replacement hardware carries none of that history forward: new pins, a new key, and a housing that has not been tampered with. You are shown the old part before it is handed over or taken away, so the vehicle's ignition starts its next chapter with hardware nobody has already tried once to defeat.
Ignition Lock Repair
In the van
Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
Steering column trim tools
Key code reader
Ignition lock cylinder
Plug follower
Ignition Lock Repair
What affects the quote
Whether a working key is available
A repair that starts with a working key to test against and pin the new cylinder to is more straightforward than one starting from a key that is lost, badly worn or entirely absent from the household.
Keying other locks to match
Bringing the doors and trunk onto a newly pinned ignition key, so one key runs the whole vehicle again, is separate work from the ignition repair itself, even when it happens during the same visit.
Aftermarket wiring near the ignition
A remote starter, an alarm, or other aftermarket wiring tied into the column changes what the locksmith has to work around and identify correctly before the mechanical repair can proceed safely.
What to have ready
- Would you like extra keys cut during the same visit?
- Where is the vehicle parked right now?
- Do you have a spare or second key available?
Ignition Lock Repair: questions
QuestionsWhat if there are scratches or damage around my ignition slot already?
That is noted honestly before any work begins, since it often means an earlier attempt was made on the lock. Damage like this usually points toward a full cylinder and housing replacement rather than a simple service, because the internal parts of a lock that has already been forced are rarely trustworthy afterward. You are shown what was found before deciding how to proceed together.
What if the key won't go into the slot at all?
That points toward the barrel itself, debris packed into the keyway, or a key that has bent or worn out of shape rather than a deeper electronic problem. The keyway is checked and cleared first, the key is compared against a spare if one exists, and the barrel is serviced or replaced depending on what that first check turns up.
Will the same key still open my doors and trunk after this repair?
If the doors and trunk already shared a key with the ignition, that arrangement is kept in mind throughout the repair and preserved wherever the vehicle's hardware allows it. Where a new cylinder or new pinning is involved, the other locks are tested against the new key before the visit ends, so nothing is left running on two different keys by accident.
Related services
- Car Key ReplacementThe key snapped at the head while you were turning it in a stiff, frosty door lock.
- Spare Car Key DuplicationA lockout last month ended with a locksmith opening the door and going home, and the same single key has been carried ever since with nothing behind it.
- Key Fob ProgrammingButtons on the fob still light up and the remote still clicks, but the vehicle refuses to start even with the fob sitting in the cupholder.