Broken key extraction in San Fernando, CA

What happens when a key breaks off inside a lock?

A key rarely snaps for no reason. The usual causes are metal fatigue in a key that has been turned thousands of times, a lock that binds so you have to lean on the key to get it to turn, a bend that nobody noticed, or a copy made from another worn copy. When it goes, the blade, the part with the cuts, stays in the keyway while you are left holding the head. Sometimes a sliver sticks out of the lock face. Sometimes it sits flush or a little deeper, with nothing to grab.

The good news is that the break itself almost never hurts the lock. A cylinder is a small brass or steel assembly of pins and springs, and a broken blade just sits in the channel where the key normally goes. The damage comes afterward, when someone tries to dig the piece out with a knife tip, a screwdriver or a bent paperclip. That is the part we want to prevent. If you have a key broken inside a lock right now, the most useful thing you can do is stop and call.

This page covers broken key removal from house locks, deadbolts, storefront doors, padlocks and vehicles in San Fernando. If your problem is a different one, such as a lost key, a lockout with a working key, or a lock that needs replacing outright, the sibling pages linked below cover those.

What should you do, and not do, before we arrive?

A few small choices in the first stretch decide whether this is a simple extraction or a bigger repair. Here is what we tell callers.

• Stop turning. If the broken piece is partly caught in a half-turned position, forcing it can bend the pins or the plug. Leave it where it is.
• Do not glue the pieces back together. Super glue in a keyway is one of the more expensive mistakes people make, because it can turn a straightforward extraction into a cylinder replacement.
• Do not dig with a knife, screwdriver or paperclip. These tools usually push the blade deeper and scratch the pin chambers.
• Skip thick oils and household sprays. They hold dust in the keyway, and we have to clean them out before we can see what we are doing.
• Keep every piece, including the head of the key. The stamping on it helps us identify the keyway and brand, and the cut pattern can be useful later.
• If a key broke in your car ignition, do not try to start the car or twist the steering wheel hard. Leave the piece alone and tell us what you see.
• If the broken key is also the one that got you locked out, tell us on the phone so we can plan for both problems in one visit.

How do we remove a broken key without damaging the cylinder?

Extraction is a patient job more than a forceful one. The tools are thin, purpose-made extractors with tiny hooks and serrations, plus good light and a steady hand. Here is how a typical call goes.

1. You call (213) 577-1366 and we ask what kind of lock it is (door knob, deadbolt, padlock, storefront cylinder or ignition), how much of the key is visible, and which direction it was turning when it broke.
2. We come to you in a mobile van. For something portable, like a padlock, you can also bring it to our storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood.
3. We look into the keyway with a light to see whether the blade is protruding, flush or deeper, and which way the cuts are facing.
4. If part of the blade sticks out, we grip it with fine tools and draw it straight out along the keyway, not rotating it.
5. If it is flush or recessed, we slide a thin extractor along the blade, catch the cut edge, and work it out in small increments so the pins are not stressed.
6. We test the cylinder with a good key: the pins should lift cleanly, the plug should turn freely and the bolt or latch should move without sticking.
7. We tell you plainly what we found. The lock may be fine, or it may be worn enough that the next key will break too. In that case we go over repair or replacement and let you decide.

What if the cylinder cannot be saved?

Occasionally a blade is wedged so tightly, or a plug has been damaged by earlier attempts to dig it out, that pulling it in place risks making things worse. In those cases we may remove the cylinder from the door and work on the bench, where we can hold it steady and see the pins. If it still cannot be saved, we explain why and talk through the options, which may mean the work described on our lock repair page. We do not push a new lock when the old one can be rescued, and we do not claim a rescue when it cannot.

What about a broken car key or a key snapped in the ignition?

Broken car key extraction follows the same principle, but the parts and the stakes are different. A piece in a door lock is handled much like a house lock. A piece in the ignition is trickier, because the cylinder sits in the steering column, is connected to the steering lock, and may be part of a larger assembly. We go slowly, and we tell you before starting if the cylinder looks like it will need more than a clean extraction.

The other half of the problem is the replacement key. Whether a new key needs electronic programming, and what that involves, depends on the make, model and year, and we do not guess about it. We confirm by VIN and by looking at the vehicle in person. Some vehicles also have keys, key codes or ignition parts that can only be obtained through the dealer. If yours is one of them, we say so at the start instead of letting you pay for a visit that cannot solve the problem.

Once the broken piece is out, the next question is usually a working key. That is a separate job, covered on our car key replacement page. If the ignition cylinder itself was damaged by the break or by earlier attempts to remove the piece, see ignition repair.

What should you do after the broken key is out?

A key that snapped has told you something. Either it was worn, bent or a copy of a copy, or the lock was binding. Pulling the piece out solves today's problem, but if you go back to the same tired key in the same stiff lock, you may be calling again.

If the key was a worn copy, do not duplicate that one. A copy made from a worn key inherits the wear. We would rather cut from an unworn original or the original cut data when it is available. Our key duplication service covers how that works. If you have lost track of who has keys to the lock, or the lock itself is tired but still serviceable, rekeying resets it to a new key so the old ones stop working, often without replacing the hardware.

How much does broken key removal cost in San Fernando?

We do not quote numbers on a web page, because the job does not have one fixed shape. What we can do is tell you what moves the cost up or down, so the phone conversation makes sense. Often a clean extraction from a standard lock is the lighter-cost part, and a replacement key or hardware, if needed, is where the total changes.

• Where the key broke: a door cylinder, a padlock and a vehicle ignition are different jobs with different effort.
• How deep the piece sits: a sliver that sticks out is quicker than a blade sitting deep in the keyway.
• Whether the cylinder survives: a clean extraction is one job, and a damaged cylinder that needs repair or replacement is another.
• Earlier attempts: glue, snapped extractor tips or gouged pins add work.
• Whether you need a new key afterward, and for a vehicle, what that key involves, which we confirm by VIN.
• Time of day and travel: our storefront is in Westwood, about 23 miles from San Fernando, and night, weekend and holiday calls are handled by the same 24/7 line.
• Lock type: standard residential cylinders are different from high-security or commercial ones.

Why do keys break in San Fernando homes and storefronts?

San Fernando is a compact 2.4-square-mile city in ZIP code 91340, and its building stock gives broken keys a few familiar settings. The housing is mostly early-1900s bungalows, Spanish-style cottages and postwar homes on small lots, with small apartment buildings near the downtown mall. Many older homes still carry original door hardware. Decades of use wear down the pins and the keyway, and a worn lock is a lock that makes keys snap.

Take a bungalow in the Las Palmas Park area with its original knob lock. The key has probably been copied several times, each copy a little rougher than the last. The summer heat in this part of the Valley swells wood doors and frames, so the latch binds and the key has to fight it. That is exactly when a key gives way. The usual fix there is extraction followed by a conversation about rekeying, which is something we do often for older bungalows near Las Palmas Park. Santa Ana wind events also push dust into exterior cylinders. Winters are mild, so corrosion is not the typical problem. The usual culprits are wear, binding and grit.

Security screen doors are a common retrofit on pre-war homes here, and their locks get used constantly, often with small keys. A key that snaps in one gets the same careful extraction as any other lock.

Commercial streets have their own pattern. Shops along the San Fernando Mall, the Maclay Avenue corridor and the Truman Street and San Fernando Road corridor open and close doors many times a day, which puts heavy wear on storefront cylinders. If a key breaks in one of those, we can pull it, and our storefront lock repair work covers the hardware if it needs attention. Around the Civic Center area, Recreation Park and Pioneer Park, the same applies to homes and small buildings.

Then there are vehicles. A commuter who parks near the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and snaps a car key in the door or ignition is stuck far from home. We come to the vehicle through our mobile locksmith service, and we confirm key details by VIN and in person once we are there.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key?

We have been in business since 1987, and broken keys are one of the oldest problems in the trade. Some points worth knowing before you call:

• One company, no dispatch middlemen. The person who answers (213) 577-1366 is part of the same business that sends the van.
• A real storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, plus mobile vans that go to you.
• David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work.
• We serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and San Fernando is one of them.
• The line is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. If it is an urgent night, our emergency locksmith service page explains how we handle those calls.
• We tell you when a lock is fine, when it is worn, and when a repair is not worth it, even when that means a smaller job for us.

How do you check that a locksmith is legitimate?

California requires locksmith companies to hold a Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) locksmith company license, known as an LCO license. Ask any locksmith company for its license number before work begins, and ask who will actually arrive at your door. Be wary of vague answers, of a name that changes when you call back, or of a price that jumps after the tech arrives. A broken key is stressful, and that is when people are most likely to skip these questions.

More locksmith help in San Fernando

• 24 Hour Locksmith in San Fernando
• Apartment Lockout in San Fernando
• Business Lockout in San Fernando
• Car Lockout in San Fernando
• Emergency Locksmith in San Fernando
• House Lockout in San Fernando
• All services in San Fernando

Broken Key Extraction near San Fernando

• Sylmar
• Mission Hills
• Pacoima
• Arleta
• North Hills
• Granada Hills