We spend a fair amount of time working with automotive locks here at Advanced Lock & Security. It’s one of our most common calls, whether it’s that someone has locked their keys in their car, their key broke while unlocking the vehicle, they can’t get the key to turn, they’ve lost their keys entirely, or a slew of other things. We’re all about prevention here at Advanced Lock & Security. We think it’s a lot better to get ahead of the issue before you’re stuck in a dark parking lot locked out of your car. So, to help you stay ahead of the game, let’s go over what a lock cylinder is and then offer a few signs that you may need to change your lock cylinder.
A lock cylinder is the area of your vehicle lock that the key is inserted into. When you insert and turn that key, internal latches will move to unlock the door. This is a different cylinder than the ignition cylinder, though both are generally keyed the same. However, if you replace the ignition cylinder and not the door lock cylinder, you’ll be using one key to unlock the door and another to start the vehicle. Automotive locks use a completely different configuration than home locks, which is why your car key looks different than your house key. Here are a few reasons you may need to replace your lock cylinder:
You lost your keys. There are two things you could do about this. It sounds weird, but if you know where you lost your keys, then a locksmith like Advanced Lock & Security can just make you a new set. In other words, if you saw your keys drop down a storm drain or fall into water somewhere, then you know no one else has them and you can replace them. If you have absolutely no idea where they are or who could have them, you should replace the cylinders in your car locks for safety reasons.
You can’t get your key to turn in the lock or you’re having functionality issues. If you’ve been having trouble turning your key to unlock the door, it’s probably best to get ahead of the game and replace your lock cylinders before they completely break. Keep in mind, though, that this could also be the result of a bad key. So try unlocking your car with another key before you have an expert change the lock cylinder.
Your vehicle was broken into. A common crook habit is to break into vehicles with a flathead screwdriver. Unfortunately, this almost always results in you having to change your lock cylinders because they’re usually heavily damaged.
Whether you’ve had to deal with a break-in, you have a security concern, or you just want to do some preventative lock maintenance, Advanced Lock & Security is the place to call for your automotive lock cylinder replacement needs. We’d be happy to take a look at your automotive locks for you and make service recommendations, just give us a call!
