Author: hoverfishSimon

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Ford Transit lock replacement and matched to existing key

In a previous post a customer had to smash their Transit side window. Their remote had lost synchronisation with the vehicle and the door lock was broken.

ford transit door lock
Ford Transit door lock components awaiting assembly.

The customer subsequently asked us to make up a new door lock to match the existing locks. A disassembled lock from Ford comes in a box containing hundreds of individual parts that need to be put together in a certain order.

Below is the old and new lock. The springs and wafers in front are leftover as they were not required to match this particular key code. Ignition locks are one of the parts that we prefer to use genuine parts where possible. Aftermarket locks can tend to cause problems.

Completed Transit lock with un-used wafers.

If you need a replacement key or remote in Ross on Wye, or Forest of Dean area then ask us for or quote. Now matter where you in the country an independent auto locksmith will normally be significantly cheaper than a main dealer.

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Broken mortise lock.

Customer was unable to unlock a British Standard 5 lever mortise lock. Original keys were present. The keys were turning but the bolt was not being withdrawn. This is an indication that the bolt thrower has broken off the curtain. Normally you can manually withdraw the bolt back into the lock, but not on this occasion. The bolt was jammed solid, and the door securely locked shut.

Mortice lock opening
Faulty mortise lock with the laminated bolt cut off.

In this situation the only option was to cut spread the door/frame and cut the bolt off. The bolts in these ERA Fortress are incredibly tough. It takes a long, long time with a large disc cutter. This requires frequent dousing of the bolt with water to prevent heat building up and setting fire to surrounding woodwork.

Broken mortice lock

Curtain spring jamming the bolt in the open position.

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Rhino vehicle bollard

This Rhino vehicle bollard was either faulty – or more likely had been maliciously damaged. The key would not turn in the lock, and the lock could not be picked. Vehicles were trapped until our locksmith was able to lower the bollard for the client.

Rhino security bollard

This lock was very incredibly tough and I was very impressed by the resistance it put up. If you’re considering fitting a bollard in your driveway, a Rhino bollard is well worth a look.

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Car key transponders are delicate

The key below is for a Ford Transit. Somebody wanted to separate the metal blade from the plastic head (because it was loose and spinning) so decided to hacksaw it off.

Unfortunately in doing so they cut the glass transponder chip in half. Without the correct chip the vehicle is immobilised and won’t start.

Ford Transit key
Damaged Ford Transit transponder key

Below is a new transponder chip that we programmed into the vehicle in the Forest of Dean. As you can this version of transponder chip is glass and very delicate. The Ford transponder chips are about double the size of the ID48 chip commonly used by Fiat and VW.

Safely inside the key head the transponder should be protected from most bumps and knocks but it won’t survive being cut in half with a hacksaw. Because there was only 1 key for the vehicle they didn’t have a backup and had to call out an auto locksmith to program new keys. It is always a good idea to have a spare key for a vehicle. It is normally significantly cheaper to get a key duplicated from an existing key than it is to cut and program one from scratch.

Ford transponder. Auto locksmith Forest of Dean
Glass type Ford ID60 transponder chip.
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UPVC door repair

UPVC door reported as ‘difficult to lock’. This was what we found. The top hinge had been ripped completely off, leaving the door hanging on by the lower 2 hinges. This is often seen when an unrestrained door is allowed to blow in the wind against the door reveal.

Broken UPVC door hinge
Damaged UPVC door hinge requiring repair.

The screws had not only stripped out of the plastic, the end of the metal flag hinge had sheared off. This will result in difficulty locking/unlocking. Worst case scenario is the rest of the hinges fail and the door falls off, breaking the glass. In this example the door was able to be repaired and correctly aligned.

It is always worth preventing your door from swinging freely in the wind. There are a variety of ways that you can achieve this.

If you need UPVC door or window repairing in Ross on Wye or Forest of Dean areas give us a call for a quote.

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Replacement Range Rover remote

Here is an aftermarket car remote that we programmed for a Range Rover Sport. Aftermarket remotes are normally cheaper than genuine, but work just as well. If you want genuine remotes we can probably provide them too.

Range Rover remote

Often with this type of Range Rover battery the internal battery goes flat. The battery is soldered to the circuit board. This battery can be replaced if you are willing to get the soldering iron out or we can do it for you.

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Make sure your vehicle locks work! #2

If you car doors don’t work – don’t just rely on your remote. If your remotes stop working, the vehicle battery goes flat, or you lose your car keys / lock them in, then the only way into the vehicle may be by smashing the glass. An auto locksmith may not be able to help you.

If the locks are broken and the vehicle is deadlocked then no amount of bending the door open to poke something in in the gap is going to get you in. You can’t open the door by sliding a tool between the glass and the door. You are left with 2 choices – either go through the skin of the door, or break the window glass.

smashed car window

I’ve been to two Ford Transits and recently with faulty locks and the remotes couldn’t be used. The cheapest option was for the vehicle owner to smash their own glass. If you are going to smash your glass it’s advisable to completely tape the entire window up to prevent a mess like that above.

In one of the Transit examples it was the second time in 6 months the owner had to smash their own glass. If only they’d got their locks fixed the first time around.

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UPVC doors – butt hinges or flag hinges?

Double glazed doors tend to be fitted with either butt hinges, or flag hinges. Butt hinges are commonly seen on cheaper, lower spec UPVC French doors and frames. These offer little or no adjustment. Flag hinges are normally found on better quality doors and offer greater prospect for altering misaligned doors. (Metal skinned composite doors will usually have butt hinges as they do not sag, warp or as badly as UPVC doors).

UPVC door butt hinge
UPVC door butt hinge. Original fit. Doors misaligned with resultant broken mechanism.

If doors fitted with butt hinges have sagged, dropped, or were installed wonky to begin with it may be impossible to align the doors correctly. The additional strain trying to lock wonky doors will often cause the multipoint locking system to fail, jamming the door shut, or unable to lock.

Rather than replace wonky doors for a complete new set of doors/frames it is often possible (and certainly cheaper) to replace the butt hinges for flag hinges. These offer much more adjustment in all the planes and take the strain off of the locking mechanism.

UPVC door flag hinge
Original hinges upgraded to adjustable flag hinges.

We repaired these doors but replacing the original butt hinges for these flag hinges (3 per door leaf). Previously the doors had been held closed for months by nothing more than a padlock around the handles. The doors were so badly installed that the locking mechanism was broken and could not be replaced. The new hinges allowed the doors to be lined up correctly and a new working multipoint strip to be fitted.

If you are near to Forest of Dean / Ross on Wye and your UPVC double glazed doors or windows need repair or adjustment give Ross-Dean Locksmiths a call.

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Keys locked in car/boot – opened.

An auto locksmith is able to open most vehicles. In this example today in the Forest of Dean the keys were locked in the boot, and the car was deadlocked shut.

Keys locked in boot

A national breakdown service had previously attended and were unable to open the vehicle. (In their defence this car did have a particularly difficult lock to pick). The breakdown service had tried bending the door open and shoving various bits of wire in the gap but that won’t work on a deadlocked vehicle. We opened the lock without damage using the correct tools.

If your keys are locked in a deadlocked vehicle you have 3 main options – 1) your spare key, 2) an auto locksmith, 3) smashing a window.

This week alone we’ve seen 3 vehicles where the locks were damaged/not even connected and the the remote had failed/been lost or the vehicle flat. The only option the customer had was to smash a window.

If you don’t have a spare key it is an idea to keep a good close up photograph of your key on your phone. Most auto locksmiths can cut the metal part of the key from the photograph. If the lock is too stiff to turn with a delicate locksmith tool it may still be possible to turn the lock with a key.

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