Lock cylender problems

[unabonked]

i origonally thought this just to be a lock cylender problem but i'm not so sure anymore.

we bought a 96 sport bout 2 weeks ago. thing has no major problems except they key only works in the ignition, and ocationally in the rear hatch, and sometimes in the passenger door with a lot of difficulty.

i origonally thought this to be a cylender problem, and requested parts for it, untill yesterday when i was playing around with the doors. when you lock all the doors, the driver side button dosen't usially go down. All the buttons are much harder to push down then in my 98.

when i was finally able to push the drivers door button down, i was able to open it from the outside without a key!

now, i'm worried that its going to be electrical work too. i think that its still bad cylenders (the key is after market and maybe wasn't machined right, thus causing breakage in the cylenders) but that would mean that the ignition should be bad too, which it isn't. maybe the ignition was replaced, machined to match the doors but was off, and that was used as the blueprint for the aftermarket key?

this has me pretty confused. the guys at ford quoted me 500 to replace all the cylenders... thats way too much to fix a few broken locks.

 

[RedBeard]

All I can say is, I have a 1996 also and the key works great in the ignition, but is VERY troublesome in the door locks. Jiggle and wiggle.

-RB

My trick is too pull up in the door handle and let it snap back a couple times.... Seems to work 80% of the time.

 

[Crankcase]

Do you have the little metal tags that came with the set of keys when the vehicle was new?

They have the codes for the door locks on them, and they could be used to cut exact copies. That might solve your problem.

Or, you could use your V.I.N. number to get the correct cut number from Ford, and then take that to a locksmith.

 

[gunnerbob]

My 94 had the same problem. Both my keys are aftermarket, and worn. Driver's side worked ok, passenger side, not so much. I was going to get new cylinders, but decided to try graphite lock lube, first. It worked. About 98 cents for a tube. Fits right in the lock, give it a couple squeezes, the work the key a few times. Hope this helps.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Im my X the door locks started getting really tricky and the drivers one quit working. I tried the graphite and it didn't work. I made an appointment to get the changed, along with the ignition of course, for about $150. Ouch. Got there and my mechanic sprayed some WD-40 in the locks. Two seconds later good as new. It prob won't fix the actual push button problems, but your lock may be stuck in the open position. I had a Skylark that had a very slightly bend lock rod that caused me a lot of headaches.

 

[unabonked]

no such luck... the wd40 didn't help... guess i'll have to shell out the money to get the parts replaced