Pulling the Locks

[colecifer]

At some point the ignition cylinder was swapped out of my explorer. I have a key to the ignition and use keyless entry to work the door locks, but have no physical key to the doors. Obviously this could turn out to be a problem some day so I'm going to pull the door locks and have a locksmith set them to the ignition key. How involved of a procedure is this? Obviously I'll have to take the door panels off, but after that I'm not sure how the cylinders will come out. I wanted to have a decent idea before I got in there. thanks.

 

[Tbars4]

i'm not sure what all is on the keyless entry for clips to the locking bars but the keylock itself is held on by a spring c-clip...i'm sure someone else would chime in with some more input, goodluck...

 

[mikeinri]

Dude, don't even think about wasting your time with that. Drive the truck to the locksmith's shop, let him take them out.

There are special tools that make this is breeze for them, they have the training and experience.

I once broke a key off in a door lock on an Astro van (talk about the mother of all POS vehicles), the guy was DONE in 10 minutes. Cylinder out, fixed and replaced. It will take you way longer than that just to get one lock out. I was also surprised at how little this cost, probably because he didn't have to drive to my house to fix it.

Seriously not trying to sound like a jerk, just trying to save you some needless pain and suffering. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[colecifer]

Thanks for the advice. You're probably right considering I don't know what I'm doing and they do this kind of thing all the time. I don't mind having them do it.

 

[ma96782]

It's simple IF you want to tackle the job.

BTW I found this thread cause I was searching for the plastic part that attaches to the back of the door lock to the metal rod. You can see the door lock and attached plastic (arm- I'm looking for) at this web site.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

Airtex Part #9D1046....the locks w/ plastic arm is $28.99 (2 locks?).......the pic shows 2 locks.

________________________________________________________________

Anyway, just remove the door panel. Peel back the plastic sheet where the lock is. Look inside and see the lock. There is a C clip that holds the back side of the lock against the sheet metal of the door. Remove the plastic arm/clip that is attached to the metal rod (not the end at the back of the lock). Careful it may break....then, you'll be looking for a replacement, plastic arm, like I am. Remove the metal C clip and viola the lock will come out from the outside.

Aloha, Mark

PS.....I found the plastic arm at the FORD Dealership.

Part # F1LY 6321970 A
Cost $11.46

 

[Burns]

I would prob say take it to them and get them to do it because i have never taken out one of the front door locks. I have taken out the rear hatch lock out and it was easy.....dont know about the front doors...

 

[da2962]

Pulling the locks isn't too difficult. Once the door panel is off just detach the rod and pull the clip holding the cylinder in. As was said, a locksmith will do this in about 10 minutes, but just know, as with any professional service, the cost for what seems like something easy is relative. As a master locksmith for the past 30 years what looks easy to the untrained is the culmination of years and years of experience. My charge for a job like this would run about $40 per door for removal and reinstallation, and $25 per lock to rekey. Of course cost will vary greatly depending on location, where my business is located is a relatively upscale area where overhead is high which of course needs to be reflected in my prices. Just thought I'd give you an idea. You might want to get an estimate first, then decide whether or not to tackle it yourself.

 

[quicklook2]

very easy to change out the locks.

i had a clip off my passenger front door and it took me less than 30 minutes to take panel off, have a coke, find and put the clip back on and close everything up.

watch for shape edges.