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[omegod]

You need to strip the old one down and note which one came from where then copy it to the new one, failing that I have a spare barrel from a low mile car 

[Webby the Bear]

There's a guide on here telling you how to loosen up your lock barrel. You take it out of the car, with key still in it, carefully remove the key and somehow capture all the springs and plungers as they ping out. You then keep them very carefully in order, clean them up, and put them back again. A good afternoon's fun, and very rewarding.

Way too much sodding about for me. £20 for a new cylinder and a couple of minutes to change it is a much better use of the time.


I've recovered far too many old Vauxhalls with seized barrels(every one of which had given signs of the impending failure) to patch one up.

+1 for me also.

Nick, you keep mentioning 20 quid. Where do you get yours from? Vauxhall want 45 plus vat for one that's already set up for my key (and probably would have wanted £1million extra if I wasn't fortunate enough to have my Vauxhall pass card with my serial numbers on!)

Cheers. 

[Nick W]

I've seen them for less than that from various web suppliers, by just googling Vauxhall keys.
But that won't match your existing one, which is something I would insist upon. The £45 you quoted for a matching one is what I would buy. It's what I did several years ago when my BMW needed a new lock. Cost about the same too.


I would only buy second hand wear parts if new ones were impossible to source.

[Shackeng]

Webby, the bits that wear and cause the problem, as you will see when you remove it, are the brass plungers, even though there may be slight wear elsewhere in the barrel.

[Andy B]

Another stupid question: obviously, all the pins are different, so how do you know which ones go where?

Ron.

They all have a number on them ..... you need the number of the tumblers when you phone e.g. 2xNo5 1xNo3 etc

As Omegod says,  strip it Dow raking note of what goes where. If you put the wrong tumbler in the wrong slot, then when the key is fitted, the barrel won't be round ie there'll be bits of brass tumbler sticking up where it shouldn't be, so won't spin in the barrel.

[Bigron]

Ugh, that's a big snag: in order to phone the numbers through, I have to demolish my lock, and no car until I get the new tumblers!

Ron.

[Webby the Bear]

I've seen them for less than that from various web suppliers, by just googling Vauxhall keys.
But that won't match your existing one, which is something I would insist upon. The £45 you quoted for a matching one is what I would buy. It's what I did several years ago when my BMW needed a new lock. Cost about the same too.


I would only buy second hand wear parts if new ones were impossible to source.

Cheers Nick, my thoughts exactly.

I've got a feeling it may come with a spare blade too. 

[Bigron]

What if I don't have a Car Pass? 

Ron.

[Webby the Bear]

What if I don't have a Car Pass? 

Ron.

£24 from Vauxhall I do believe. 

[Andy B]

Ugh, that's a big snag: in order to phone the numbers through, I have to demolish my lock, and no car until I get the new tumblers!

Ron.

you could rebuild it in between .... 

[Bigron]

Ok, ya got me! 
I suppose I could treat it as a practice run.....

Ron.

[Nick W]

Ugh, that's a big snag: in order to phone the numbers through, I have to demolish my lock, and no car until I get the new tumblers!

Ron.

you could rebuild it in between .... 

Yet more buggering about for a five minute job!


I wish I could justify that amount of time and effort.

[Andy B]

Ok, ya got me! 
I suppose I could treat it as a practice run.....

Ron.

     

[Andy B]

Ugh, that's a big snag: in order to phone the numbers through, I have to demolish my lock, and no car until I get the new tumblers!

Ron.

you could rebuild it in between .... 

Yet more buggering about for a five minute job!


I wish I could justify that amount of time and effort.

Depends how much free time you have 

[Nick W]

Ugh, that's a big snag: in order to phone the numbers through, I have to demolish my lock, and no car until I get the new tumblers!

Ron.

you could rebuild it in between .... 

Yet more buggering about for a five minute job!


I wish I could justify that amount of time and effort.

Depends how much free time you have 

I wouldn't even have considered it last year when I was unemployed.