Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General how much $ to fix broken key in lock?

well the weathers been pretty cold lately, and after i washed my car, one of my locks ended up freezing. of course, my dumbass self had to try to twist the key in the lock too hard, and it broke off in the door . so whats a good price to get this fixed? i called the local place, they said they'd have to replace all of the locks (2 doors and steering wheel). i think they said it was like a little over 200 bucks, cant really remember.
should i go with them?

I dont how much it will be but $200 is too much. There has got to be a locksmith that can pull the broken key out, and Ford can provide you with the replacment if you dont have any extra keys. Shop around....

Can't you remove the broken piece with tweezers, or a sewing needle, some some MacGyver tool?

I broke a key in mine two months ago, popped it out with a pair of good tweezers tha I magnatized. I don't think the magnetism did anything, though.

The replacment key was like 15 bucks, I think.

I find it really hard to belive that you would have to go replace all of your locks just because you have a broken key inside it.

Happened to me once in ignition of a non-Contour away from home. I just looked in the yellow pages for a locksmith that did service calls. I was in a mall parking lot and problem was solved and I was on my way within an hour.

Fortunately I was only 20 minutes from home and wife was able to bring spare key. Cost was standard trouble call rate of 60 bucks and took about 10 minutes of picking.

When key breaks in coded section the tumblers prevent tweezers from simply extracting the end. Tumblers have to be moved individually as end is extracted. If key breaks flush then simple extraction should be possible.

ok thanks guys, ill try to get it out with tweezers and/or a needle or something tomorrow. magnets wont do anything, b/c i already tried that with a high power magnet that my friend was using for a project.

if the key's too far in there then ill call a locksmith, thanks!

If you are an electronics guy...

You could solder a wire onto the piece stuck in your lock and then pull it out. A friend of mine did this. Most keys are brass which solders VERY easily. BTW, magnets won't do a darn thing unless your key was steel. Highly unlikely.

HTH,
BP

Yes, I understand.... thats why I said I don't think the magnet did anything.