Dear all,
When was the last time you properly looked at your keys? I know I never did.
Last night just before going to the hotel for the night's rest before Japfest, I started to lock the car and put the key in, I had barely started to turn it without any force and "click" - The picture tells the story rather well.
Thankfully we had just filled up with fuel and the passenger door was still open.
I checked 4 other members' keys the next day and sure enough two of them had visible stress cracks in exactly the same place and the other two had the beginnings of the same cracks in the same place.
Here is one member's key, spot the stress fractures!
I just got home and checked my original key that I keep as a spare and guess what, see the picture! I'll be down the locksmiths tomorrow as soon as with my two spare blanks!!!!
My door locks have been oiled so I hardly put any pressure on it at all before it sheared. I suspect years of them being tougher to open have taken their toll on the keys.
Please save yourselves the hassle and check your keys/get spares cut before you end up with a "locks all round replacement job" or "trying to get a broken key out of the lock with a watch screw driver" job! The latter I will be attempting this evening.
When was the last time you properly looked at your keys? I know I never did.
Last night just before going to the hotel for the night's rest before Japfest, I started to lock the car and put the key in, I had barely started to turn it without any force and "click" - The picture tells the story rather well.
Thankfully we had just filled up with fuel and the passenger door was still open.
I checked 4 other members' keys the next day and sure enough two of them had visible stress cracks in exactly the same place and the other two had the beginnings of the same cracks in the same place.
Here is one member's key, spot the stress fractures!
I just got home and checked my original key that I keep as a spare and guess what, see the picture! I'll be down the locksmiths tomorrow as soon as with my two spare blanks!!!!
My door locks have been oiled so I hardly put any pressure on it at all before it sheared. I suspect years of them being tougher to open have taken their toll on the keys.
Please save yourselves the hassle and check your keys/get spares cut before you end up with a "locks all round replacement job" or "trying to get a broken key out of the lock with a watch screw driver" job! The latter I will be attempting this evening.
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