Nissan 300ZX Key Make

As a locksmith technician that offer automotive services, I find it hard to keep track on various changes that were made over the years on different makes and model vehicles that are industry related. Sure there are many books that would help a locksmith to determine what would be required to do for a certain job such as making a key or find a specific way to open a vehicle. However, not all the time the information on these books are accurate. Sometimes, a solution could be found by non traditional ways or by trial and error.

I remember a job I did few years ago making a key for a 93 Nissan 300ZX. At that time, the customer called and claimed he had lost the only key he had for the vehicle and a new one needed to be originated from scratch. Even thou I didn't recall servicing these types of vehicles at that time, I knew from an older Nissan models I serviced that getting the code to make the key would not be a problem. I decided to accept the job, got the customer information and drove to his address.

Once I got to the customer's home, I got my machine ready and went to the vehicle to look for the code that will allow me to generate the key. The first place I knew where to look was in the glove compartment where I knew early Nissan models usually would have a sticker inside it with the code. However, for some reason I couldn't  find it. I asked the customer if he knew anything about the absence of the sticker and he said that he don't recall ever seeing one and that he was the 3rd owner of the vehicle. At this point I figured previous owners must have removed it.

Since I knew the key for this vehicle was acting as a Master-Key opening the doors, trunk and turning the ignition, I figured my next best option was to take apart the door panel and get to the door lock cylinder, so I could get the code from the the tailpiece. After removing the panel, I was able to access the lock, but for some reason, I did not see any code stamped on the tailpiece.

At that point, I did not know what to do, so I called another Seattle locksmith friend of mine for a little advice. He said that my best option that will save me some time on top of the time already wasted was to remove the trunk lock, disassemble it, and decode the wafer tumblers in order to make the key. I followed his exact instruction and after about 15 minutes I had a key ready to be used.

Mortise Lock

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Ford Ignition Removal Tip

As a professional locksmith technician with many years of experience in the field sometimes I find replacing vehicle's ignition can be a hard task. Depending on year, make and model of the vehicle, some ignitions require the disassemble of steering column trim components. However, even when this step is done, there is still the part of taking the ignition switch out which can be a hassle by itself especially if there is no key available. In such situation, most locksmith technicians know that the ignition switch would need to be drilled or pick. With picking, it may or may not work depending on the type of ignition and the number of cuts which leaves drilling. However, in a situation when you just need to make a new key and not replace the ignition, drilling may not be a suitable solution.

I got a call the other day from a customer who lost the key to his 96 Ford F-150. Since I just got recently a new pick tool set for ignitions and was eager to try it out, I decided to accept the job and was heading to the customer's location. For some of the vehicles manufactured in the late 90's there is a code that can be purchased by giving only the vehicle's VIN number. Not only it cost significant amount of money, but most likely there wasn't a code available in the database to pull for that particular Ford model I was about to service.

Once I got to the customer's location, I went ahead and took apart the steering column trim that needed to be removed in order to reach for the ignition cylinder. The next step was picking the cylinder open, so I could remove it in order to make a new key. After 10 minutes of many attempts picking the Ford 10 cut ignition I finally gave up and decided to call a fellow Seattle locksmith of mine for advice. He mentioned I should use a small thin metal wire with a hook on the end similar to a pick tool and try to remove the wafer springs one at a time. After the springs will be out, he said I should tap the housing gently around the cylinder until it will be unlocked and available to be removed.

I must say, I was a little skeptical at first about whether this method will work or not, but to my surprise the cylinder was in my hands after only a couple of minutes working on it. Once the ignition cylinder was out, I was able to decode the wafers and make a new key followed by reloading the springs I released. This method pretty much saved the job as I did not have to drill or damage the ignition in order to remove it.

Automotive Broken Key Extraction

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Simplex 5000 Lock

As a locksmith technician with many years of experience in the field, I noticed that many companies in recent years are making the conversion from the traditional type locks to a key-less entry lock systems. From my experience working and installing these types of system I can vouch for the fact it is an upgrade in security as well as the fact it has many features that may help maintain the security of the business a little better.

I got a call recently from a company that saw one of my advertisements online for a Simplex lock 5000. This type of lock is one of the leading key-less entry lock system in the market for commercial property applications. I booked the job and headed out to the company's address. Once I got there, it didn't take me long to remove and dispose of the old lock they had on the door. Luckily, I had the Simplex 5000 in stock in my van, so I didn't need to go to the locksmith shop to get one. I finished installing the lock within 30 minutes, got paid and was on my way out of there.

Couple of hours went by since I did the job and I was getting a call from the same company again claiming they can't seem to open the lock and the employees are currently locked out. I thought to myself it was odd getting the call back since I never had any issues with these locks before. I drove to the company location again and after a quick check I was able to unlock the lock and realize what caused it to malfunction.

After questioning the company's personnel, it seemed that they misunderstood me regrading the operation of the lock . According to one of the employees, they tried to depress the lever while holding the "enter" button which will cause the lock to malfunction. I explained them that they have to press and release the "enter" button before using the lever. After making sure they knew how to use the new lock properly, I was on my way.

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Residential Re-Key Service in Seattle

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