Broken Car Key Repair and Extraction in Leicester
Inta-Lock extracts a snapped car key from the ignition, door or boot lock at your vehicle in Leicester, then repairs the broken key or cuts a new one.
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A broken car key is one of two things. Either the blade has snapped, bent or come away from its fob, or the key is whole and stuck fast in the lock. Extraction clears the lock, and a repair or a new blade puts a working key back in your hand.
Matt is with you within the hour in Leicester, and the same day across Leicestershire. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and a quote is agreed before work begins.
What to Do While the Fragment Is Stuck
The fragment comes out cleanly when nothing has pushed it deeper. Until Matt arrives, the broken key and the lock are left exactly as they are.
- Keep the head of the key and any loose piece of blade together in one place.
- Look at the lock and note whether the broken end of the blade is visible at the keyway.
- Note the position the ignition was in when the key snapped, off, accessory or on.
- Call Matt on 0116 442 2084 with the make, model, year and registration.
- Pliers and tweezers. They slip off the broken end and drive the fragment further in.
- Glue on the stump of the key. It bonds the fragment to the lock instead of to the stump.
- A screwdriver or a second key in the keyway. Both bend the wafers the blade sits against.
- The steering wheel, where the fragment is in the ignition and the steering lock is on.
Where the Key Broke Decides the Job
Seven fault locations cover a broken key, and each one sets whether the job is an extraction, a repair or both.
| Where the key has failed | What Matt does | New key afterwards | What you leave with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blade snapped inside the ignition barrel | Extracts the fragment through the keyway, then checks how the barrel turns | Yes, a new blade is cut and the transponder side of the key is dealt with | A clear ignition and a key tested in it |
| Blade snapped inside a door lock | Extracts the fragment through the keyway, then checks the lock with the new blade | Yes, a new blade is cut | A door lock that turns and a key tested in it |
| Blade snapped inside the boot lock | Extracts the fragment through the keyway, then checks the lock with the new blade | Yes, a new blade is cut | A boot lock that turns and a key tested in it |
| Flip key blade parted from the fob at the hinge | No extraction. A blade is fitted to the fob where the fob is sound | A blade only, where the fob electronics still work | The fob you already own with a firm blade |
| Blade bent or cracked but still in one piece | No extraction. A new blade is cut before the damaged one snaps in a lock | Yes, a new blade is cut to the lock and not copied from the bend | A straight blade and the damaged one retired |
| Key whole but stuck in the lock | Frees the key without force, then finds what held it | Only where the blade is worn or bent, checked at the vehicle | The key out of the lock and the cause named |
| Head or case broken, blade and chip loose | No extraction. The blade and the chip are moved into a sound case | No, where the blade and the chip are undamaged | The same key in a case that holds together |
Where a fragment sits beyond reach of the keyway, the lock has to come out of the vehicle to release it, and Matt says so before the work goes any further.
How Matt Removes a Snapped Key Blade
Six steps take the job from the call to a tested key.
- You call Matt on 0116 442 2084 and say which lock holds the fragment. A quote is agreed before work begins.
- Matt arrives at the vehicle and looks into the keyway to see how deep the fragment sits and which way the lock is turned.
- The lock is brought to the position in which a key withdraws, because a blade only leaves a lock in that position.
- Fine extraction tools slide in beside the fragment, catch the cuts along the blade and draw it back out through the keyway.
- The empty lock is turned and checked for stiffness or wear, so the next key does not meet the same resistance.
- The key is repaired or a new blade is cut on equipment carried in the van, then tested in the ignition, the door and the boot with you present.
A snapped key out of the lock and a working key in your hand, where the car stands.
Call Matt on 0116 442 2084What a Snapped Key Still Has Left
A car key is three parts, and a snap usually breaks only one of them. That is why a broken key is often a repair and not a whole new key.
- The blade. The metal that broke. A snapped blade is not glued or soldered back together, because the joint carries the full turning force of the lock. A new blade is cut instead.
- The transponder chip. The part the immobiliser reads, housed in the head of the key. A snap in the blade leaves it untouched. Where the key design allows, the chip is carried into the repaired key, and where it does not, a new chip is coded to the vehicle.
- The remote. The buttons and the circuit board inside the fob. They keep working after a snap, so on a flip key the new blade is fitted to the fob you already own where the fob is sound.
Before a new blade is cut, identity and authority to request the work are checked. The V5C vehicle registration certificate, which names the registered keeper, and photo identification are common examples, and what applies is confirmed on the call.
Matt East Extracts and Repairs Broken Keys
Matt East attends every broken key call himself. He trained as a locksmith from 2011, which is the lock side of this job, and has worked on vehicles with automotive key equipment since 2019, which is the key side of it.
A snapped blade is both jobs at once, a fragment to remove from a lock and a key to make good. Garage and dealer referral relationships date from 2021, and Inta-Lock has more than 1,000 jobs behind it.
- SERMI Accredited
- NCFE Qualified
- NNAL Member
- Enhanced DBS Checked
- Insured to £5 Million
Why a Car Key Snaps or Sticks
Four causes sit behind a broken key, and the cause decides whether the new blade lasts or meets the same end.
A key rarely breaks without notice. A blade that has to be jiggled, a visible bend, or a lock that grows stiffer month by month are the signs that come first.
A barrel that stays stiff once the fragment is out is a fault of the barrel and not of the key. That work is a service of its own, set out under ignition repair.
What Sets the Quote for a Broken Key
Four things set the quote, and the figure for your own vehicle is agreed before work begins.
- Where the fragment sits. A fragment in the ignition, a door lock or the boot lock is reached in a different way, and a fragment flush with the keyway differs from one pushed deep.
- What the key is. A plain blade is cut only. A transponder, remote or flip key has electronics that are carried over or coded.
- What is left of the key. A head with a sound chip and a working remote leaves less to make than a key whose head is lost or crushed.
- The state of the lock. A lock that turns freely once the fragment is out ends the job. A lock that stays stiff is a further fault, and Matt says so before anything more is done.
No price list is published. Tell Matt which lock holds the fragment and what is left of the broken key, and the quote covers that job and nothing else.
Where Broken Key Extraction Happens Across Leicester
A car with a fragment in the ignition is not driven anywhere, so the extraction happens where the vehicle stands, on a driveway, in a car park or at the roadside. Matt is with you within the hour in Leicester, and the same day across Leicestershire.
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Broken Key Jobs and the Jobs Beside Them
Four situations sit next to a broken key, and each one is a different job once the lock is clear.
A Snapped Blade Compared With a Failed Fob
Comparison. Both leave a driver with a key that no longer does its job, and both are put right at the vehicle.
Differences. A snapped blade is a mechanical break in the metal, and the lock is involved because the fragment is inside it. A failed fob is an electronic fault in the buttons, the battery or the circuit board, and the blade still turns the lock.
Similarities. Both keep as much of the existing key as is sound, and both are quoted before work begins.
Effects. A key whose blade is whole and whose buttons have stopped is not a broken key job. It belongs to key fob repair.
New Blade Cut to Code or Copied
A new blade is made in one of two ways. It is cut to the key data or the lock of the vehicle, or it is copied from the pieces of the broken key.
A copy repeats whatever wear thinned the old blade, so the copy starts life as worn as the key that snapped. A blade cut to the lock starts at full depth. The blade profiles and the cutting methods are set out under car key cutting.
Where a Broken Key Becomes a Replacement
A broken key stays a repair while the head survives with a sound chip. It becomes a replacement when the head is lost, crushed or water damaged, or when the pieces are gone and no second key exists.
At that point nothing of the old key is reused, and a whole key is cut and coded to the vehicle. That job is set out under replacement car keys.
Mobile Extraction Compared With Recovery to a Garage
Comparison. Both routes end with the fragment out of the lock and a key that turns.
Differences. A mobile extraction happens at the vehicle. A garage works on the car in its workshop, and a car with a fragment in the ignition reaches a workshop on a recovery truck.
Similarities. Both look at the lock once the fragment is out, because the lock is often what broke the key.
Effects. The recovery leg drops out of the job when the locksmith travels and the car does not, whether the vehicle stands on a drive in Evington or outside a workplace across the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a snapped key be removed from the ignition without a new barrel?
Yes, a snapped key is removed from the ignition without a new barrel where the barrel itself is sound.
The fragment is drawn out through the keyway with extraction tools and the barrel stays in the steering column. A barrel that is worn or damaged is a separate fault, and Matt says so before any further work.
Is a new key cut from the two broken pieces?
Yes, a new key is cut using the two broken pieces, which show the cuts of the blade.
Where the pieces are badly worn, the blade is cut to the key data or the lock of the vehicle instead, so the wear is not copied.
Is the chip from a broken key reused?
The chip from a broken key is reused where the key design allows it and the chip still reads.
The chip sits in the head of the key, away from the break. Where it is not reusable, a new chip is coded to the immobiliser.
Does glue get a broken key out of a lock?
No, glue does not get a broken key out of a lock, and it usually fixes the fragment to the lock.
Glue runs past the broken end and into the wafers. A fragment that slides out with extraction tools then turns into a lock that has to come apart.
Why does a car key snap in cold weather?
A car key snaps in cold weather because a frozen or stiff lock resists the blade and the extra force goes into the metal.
A blade already thinned by wear gives way first. A key that feels stiff in a cold lock is a key to stop turning.
What checks come before a new key is cut after an extraction?
Identity and authority to request the work are checked before a new key is cut.
The V5C vehicle registration certificate and photo identification are common examples, and what applies to your own vehicle is confirmed on the call.
Is broken key extraction available at night in Leicester?
Yes, broken key extraction is available at night, because Inta-Lock is open 24 hours and the phone is answered every day of the year.
Matt is with you within the hour in Leicester, and the same day across Leicestershire.
Leave the fragment where it is, keep both pieces of the broken key and call Matt.