Stolen Keys / Door Lock Replacement

[ncnmra]

The keys to my 2018 Explorer Sport were stolen. I will get a replacement fob from the dealer and have the car erased and reprogrammed for my 2nd existing fob, as well as the replacement fob.

This would prevent the vehicle from being driven. However, the thief could still use the "valet" portion of the key fob to open my vehicle. The dealership was "confused" regarding the concept of replacing the driver's door cylinder.

Has anyone re-keyed or replaced their driver's door cylinder?

 

[peterk9]

I did a quick search and did not come up with anyone having replaced the door cylinder. It was asked in another thread about stolen keys but was never answered.
Would your insurance pay for this or a new lock?

Peter

 

[ncnmra]

The contents of the vehicle are insured through my home policy, and I want to avoid a claim. Furthermore, the vehicle is a lease, and will likely go back in 2 years, as well as it is not really an issue if the vehicle is parked in my garage (which it usually is).

I'm just concerned about the remote possibility of the thief coming around again and having easy access to the vehicle. They likely know where I live.

I found the cylinder online: Lock Cylinder Assembly - Ford (FB5Z-7821991-A) | OEM Ford Parts

But I'm unsure of how the key gets matched/keyed.

I guess it surprises me that nobody has ever had this issue.

 

[peterk9]

A little less expensive here; 2016-2019 Ford Explorer Lock Cylinder Assembly FB5Z-7821991-A | Auto Nation Ford White Bear Lake
I've never had to replace a vehicle door lock before but I would guess that you would have to get the key blades in your fobs replaced/rekeyed. Don't forget that those key blades also lock/unlock the glove box in addition to the driver's door. Being a lease, that may be important. Not sure what if any info would come with a new lock. Perhaps a locksmith could help.

Peter

 

[ncnmra]

I was going to replace the door cylinder only so that someone couldn't get into the vehicle, then put the original back at lease end. I have never actually had to use the door cylinder. Unless I'm mistaken, the only time I could see using it would be if the battery dies.

 

[KayGee]

I rekeyed more than a few GM lock cylinders in the 80's/90's as they seemed to wear out pretty quickly. I don't recall having to rekey any on 2000 or newer vehicles.

You didn't mention how the keys were stolen.

So, if I thought I was targeted (Gone in 60 Seconds type stuff) or had other keys on the fob for home/office/etc..., I would definitely be changing any locks I thought may be compromised.

If I left my fob only out and think a junkie or petty thief grabbed the fob to get a fix or sell for a quick $10 or $20, I think I may just let it ride and not worry about it (as it's a lease and garaged/insured) and hopefully/ideally not likely that it will be used to gain access to the vehicle at a later date.

If you're submitting to insurance as a claim, then ask them how they would like to handle and put the onus on them to address the claim so the vehicle isn't left exposed to further unauthorized access/theft.

 

[ncnmra]

Replacing the fob will erase the old one so the vehicle can't be driven away using it. My only concern then is future ingress to the car itself (where the garage remote is, etc). I will be more religious about parking in the garage, but invariably there may be a day where I don't have a choice. It was initially a crime of opportunity, and I actually doubt that they would have the forethought to "keep" the keys for some future date to try to unlock (not drive!) my car, but I'd prefer to just take that off the table.

Again, I may replace the cylinder with a new one and then swap it back at the end of the lease. It looks like a pretty easy job.

I'm not going to go through insurance.

 

[BaseFan]

Just an idea....
Why not just disconnect the linkage to the cylinder to disable it but leave it in place.
Just use the fob.... when the lease is up, hook it back up...
Even if you forget, the correct cylinder is in place for the next owner to just hook back up.
Only real down issue is you won't have the backup mechanical key opening.
Only you would know if that is important that is to you.

Just an idea...

 

[BKennedy]

Is there any way the thief would know where your car is at any given time? Unless the thief knows where you park your vehicle, I would not worry about changing the door lock.

Won't the alarm still sound if electronically locked and opened with the key? If this is the case, I would not worry about changing the door lock.

Were the keys stolen as contents of a bag of some sort, or were the keys specifically targeted for theft? If the keys were in something like a purse or backpack that was stolen, I would not worry about changing the lock as the keys were most-likely discarded.

I have a garage door opener in my Silverado that won't fit in the garage, but take it with me when I park overnight outside my house.

 

[peterk9]

.....................Won't the alarm still sound if electronically locked and opened with the key? .....................

I haven't tried that but I'm guessing that since the key blade is in the fob, that if someone were to use just the 'blade' to unlock the door that the fob itself would still be in the area and thus the alarm likely won't be set off. Just a guess at this point.

Peter

 

[BKennedy]

I know next to nothing about the new Fords, but my newer GM products if locked electronically, will activate the security features if the manual door key is used. The fob for the stolen key was deactivated so it shouldn't connect with the vehicle.

 

[ncnmra]

It was stolen from outside my house, so the thief's know where I live. I'm quite sure that it wasn't "targeted", and it was a crime of opportunity (my own fault). I'm pretty certain that they ended up throwing out the keys, and they certainly can't use it to steal the car, as it has been deactivated after I got a new one.

Won't the alarm still sound if electronically locked and opened with the key? If this is the case, I would not worry about changing the door lock.

I thought this would be the case too, but it does NOT appear to be. I tried by locking my door with the fob, and then leaving it deep inside my house. I made sure that the door lock wouldn't open by pulling the handle. I used the mechanical "key" to unlock and open the door, and NO, the alarm did not sound. I suspect the logic is that the alarm won't sound if the door is unlocked "properly" via the cylinder and that if you were to jimmy it open, it might sound, however, I have no idea what the logic is for the alarm.

Why not just disconnect the linkage to the cylinder to disable it but leave it in place.

Considering that the mechanical key is only really useful for the situation where the battery dies (can anyone think of any other use case?), then I'm considering doing this, or, perhaps even easier, buying a spare cover like for the passenger side (without the hole) and just covering up the key cylinder. The issue here is just to take away the "convenience" factor.

Another annoying tidbit that I found through this process......the garage door opener (HomeLink) still works regardless of whether the vehicle is on/running. This is a bit of a security issue since if the car is left on the driveway, and is accessible (ie: either through the mechanical key, unlocked, or window is open), then technically the garage can be opened. Just FYI.

I've seen other vehicles that do not run power to the HomeLink system if the vehicle is not turned on or running.

I'm a bit paranoid now after this incident.

 

[peterk9]

Both the Homelink and radio are always powered and will function with the vehicle turned OFF.

Peter

 

[KayGee]

I thought this would be the case too, but it does NOT appear to be. I tried by locking my door with the fob, and then leaving it deep inside my house. I made sure that the door lock wouldn't open by pulling the handle. I used the mechanical "key" to unlock and open the door, and NO, the alarm did not sound. I suspect the logic is that the alarm won't sound if the door is unlocked "properly" via the cylinder and that if you were to jimmy it open, it might sound, however, I have no idea what the logic is for the alarm.

Seems odd - all of my current ford and chevy vehicles with keyless/security will "alarm/horn honk" if the vehicle is locked with the fob and the doors are unlocked from the outside with the key or opened from inside the vehicle in any way. I recall both of my MBs doing the same.

 

[BKennedy]

The keys being stolen from your house changes things for me. I still don't know if I would go to all the trouble of changing the door lock. I would disable the garage door opener feature for a few months if you don't change the door lock.

 

[KayGee]

Just curious - it's been a week since the original post. Have you actually done anything or are you still thinking about what to do?

I'm still not sure I understand how your keys were stolen, but I do know that if my keys were legit stolen from outside my house, I wouldn't still be chatting about it online a week later. I would have filed a report about the theft with my local police and at least contacted my insurance agent to inquire about what they suggest in such a situation so I didn't end up with a possible future theft claim and then had to reveal my keys were stolen and I did nothing about it.

Anyway, at the end of the day, only the person affected can decide what they want to do and they should do that by assessing their risk tolerance level, rather than relying on comments/feedback from random strangers (myself included).

 

[ncnmra]

Yes, I have taken care of it. Of COURSE I filed a police report and notified my insurance agency. As it happens, the police are zero helpful. My question was about replacing the cylinder lock. This thread and my discussions with the dealership convinced me that it isn't practical. I have replaced the fob to ensure that the vehicle cannot be stolen using the old fob.

 

[BaseFan]

You have to decide what is best for you but I would still want to keep anyone out of the vehicle.
I am stunned the dealer would convince you to do nothing.
I still think the simplest, cheapest, and most easily reversible is to pop the linkage to the door cylinder.
If you really decide to just deprogram the "lost" fob, then at least wipe out the homelink garage door programming.
As you said, the old key will still get someone into the vehicle and the homelink opener will still work.

Better safe than sorry....

 

[ncnmra]

Yes, I have disabled the door cylinder. I never used homelink actually because when we moved about a year ago, we had some remotes left, and they are the newest Chamberlain garage door opener style (yellow button). I've had issues programming homelink before, and the remotes that we got work awesome (consistent, and long distance). Regardless, I reprogrammed my garage doors anyway.

The issue with replacing the cylinder is that you'd need two new entry keys, valet key and glove box cylinder. That would likely be an expensive proposition. I am confident that nobody is getting into my vehicle, and I am more consistent about parking it in the garage all the time.

Two years from now it will go back off lease and I will just re-enable the door cylinder.

 

[BaseFan]

Yes, I have disabled the door cylinder. I never used homelink <snip>

The issue with replacing the cylinder is that you'd need two new entry keys, valet key and glove box cylinder. That would likely be an expensive proposition. I am confident that nobody is getting into my vehicle, and I am more consistent about parking it in the garage all the time.

Two years from now it will go back off lease and I will just re-enable the door cylinder.

That is exactly what I meant and what I would do...
If I owned the car and planned on keeping it for 10+ years, I might consider the additional costs of changing the cylinders, but on a lease.... never.

Dropping the linkage is very easy, quick to do and totally reversable with no cost except for some time...

Interesting, we don't use Homelink either. We just use a separate opener.
We actually found it was better, because if we leave the car with a key (service/valet/etc...)
It is easy to take the opener with us for extra security.

Sorry to hear what happened to you but glad to hear it is all worked out.