How-To: Replacing and Rekeying Door Lock Cylinders

Over the past few years the lock cylinders in both of my doors have been getting stiffer and stiffer. They are usually fine in the summers but in the colder months there would be mornings I would fear not being able to remove the key after unlocking the doors.

Thinking it was either the lock cylinders or the key itself, I had a new key cut at the dealership using the VIN and tested it in the doors but unfortunately they bound just the same. So on to replacing the door lock cylinders.

When people replace the door cylinders they are usually left with a new set of keys, one for the doors and one for the ignition. Not wanting another key, I decided to try and re-key the new cylinders for my existing key.

As for purchasing new cylinders, you can either get the OEM cylinders (Toyota 69052-35070, $75 EACH?!?!?!), or find something comparable on Amazon or eBay. When looking at non-OEM keys, pay attention to the keys that they come with and that they match your OEM key (looking for TR47 style key in the description can help). After some looking I decided to try these for $7:

Aokus Front Pair Door Lock Cylinder Set Kit with Keys Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 1995-2004 Driver and Passenger Side Cylinder 4 Set Replace 6905135070 69052-35070 DL-107 DL108R

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WYLKDJS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

NOW HOW TO REKEY:

First, layout the new cylinders and grab the key you want to mate them to. I marked it with painters tape to keep it separate:


When you insert the new key into the cylinders you should see the brass wafers prevent the key cylinder from turning. The goal of this project is to rearrange the wafers so that are all flush with the cylinder when the key is inserted:


To get the cylinder out, remove black retainer ring off the back followed by the indexed lever, and clock spring:



Now the last thing holding the cylinder in place is the front bezel. For these cylinders, it is held on with two crimps. Prying one of these up with a small screw driver allows it to be removed:


With the front bezel removed and the correct key inserted, the cylinder can be pulled from the housing. Be sure to remove the cylinder with the key in place, its what is holding the wafers in the cylinder. (Notice the brass wafers flush with the cylinder. This is what they should look like with our desired key inserted)


With a good workspace able to catch small parts, you can now remove the key and start removing the individual wafers with some needle nose pliers. Each wafer will have its own spring that presses on it. The springs don't have to be removed but can easily fall out and be lost so it may be better to remove them with the wafer. Up to you.


With all of the wafers removed from the cylinder, now begins the guessing game. Start rearranging the wafers (ensuring it has a spring to engage it) and inserting the new key until each of the wafers is flush with the cylinder when the key is inserted. Here you can see I have 2 correct but one is wrong:


Once you either get all of the wafers in the correct order (or have extra wafers that do not fit any slots), you can begin reassembly in the reverse order of disassembly.

This is also a good time to reapply any lubricants to the cylinder. My cylinders came packaged with what appeared to be a silicone grease, so I reapplied some of the same. Use whatever grease or lubricant (graphite powder or something else) you deem appropriate.

For reattaching the bezel, I found using head of a small nail and a vice worked pretty well:



DISCLAIMER WORTH MENTIONING:

The main caveat of this process is the potential of not having all of the available wafers installed. For my instance, each cylinder had 1 wafer that did not fit either cylinder and I think one was already missing a couple from the factory. Although this theoretically makes the lock less secure, I still had several other wafers installed and felt comfortable leaving some of the slots empty. (I think a thief is more likely to just break a window then try to defeat the lock so missing a wafer or two probably isn't a big deal).



REPLACING CYLINDERS ON THE TRUCK:

This portion is going to be much more brief as there is already a lot of information out there on removing the door panels, so we will start after that step has been completed.

With the door panels off, you should see the door handle attached with 2x 10mm fasteners, and 2 wire linkages (with plastic retainers). You have 2 options to proceed:

1) If you want to remove the entire handle for cleaning and re-lubricating (a good idea), you will need to remove both linkages and both fasteners. With the handle removed, you can easily swap the new cylinder with the old

2) If you don't want to bother with removing the handle, you can replace the cylinder with the handle still in place. To do this, remove the lock cylinder linkage, its fastener, and loosen the other fastener holding the handle in place (but don't remove it completely). From here, there should be enough room to twist the old lock cylinder out (its held in by a small black plastic tab in the pic below. To remove, twist clockwise) and twist the new one back in its place. Be mindful the tab of the cylinder goes between the door handle and sheet metal of the door. Then just reinstall/tighten fasteners and reattach the linkage.



Comparing the new and the old cylinder, it seems obvious why the old one was binding so much. I may clean it up to see if it returns to functioning normally to have as a spare, but hopefully the new cylinders last me another 20yrs:






And that's it. With everything back together you should be left with new lock cylinders that are now keyed to the same key you had before. Hopefully this helps some people in the future and let me know if there are any questions. Thanks.

 

Great thread, I do have a question for you, my ignition key slot is crapping out. Where do I even go when it comes to this?

 

Just curious why you did not rekey the ignition switch to the new door lock cylinders ?

Then perhaps you have 10 keys for the ignition cylinder floating around?

 

Looks like you can get replacement cylinders on rock auto (or Im sure many other places). If you wanted to, I would suspect you could rekey it to use your existing keys just like I did for the door cylinders.

The ignition seems just fine for now, hasn't given me any issues like the doors had been. For my first time trying this, rekeying the doors seemed much less risky than messing with the ignition. Plus this way I can keep the factory key that matches the VIN which may come in handy in the future.

 

The ignition one is the one to be concerned about.......when it fails it seizes and wont release the key....or allow it to switch off...

Correct way is to buy new door cylinders with matching key....
then go buy new ignition......and then take all to a lock smith.....
he'll rekey the ignition to match the door cylinders.......
that's what they do.......

 

Some of the best photos I have seen in a "how to", thanks.

Yes, very obvious. Before rekeying (by yourself or locksmith) I would remove the door locks and clean them thoroughly with a solvent that evaporates and leaves no residue (like MAF cleaner), toothbrush and compressed air. Insert key and rotate cylinders to clean in all positions. Lubricate with graphite lock lube (NOT WD-40) and re-install. This will likely solve your lock issues.

And if it doesn't, then, THIS:

 

Thank you! @TacosConQueso
I just did mine following all your instructions/post. Everything came out pretty good, thanks for the pictures it really helps.

I was able to re-build the old cylinder with the new wafers that came on the new cylinder and able to use the new key in it, I kept my old key just like you.
I will be giving it to my friend who does not have a cylinder at all in his '96 Tacoma.

 

Excellent tutorial. I have rekeyed a lot of Thule and Yakima lock cores in the same way. It’s good to know that Tacoma door cylinders are just as simple.

sometimes you can file the slot inside the wafer to get it to sit in the right spot. You could also do as mentioned above and use a combination of old and new wafers to get what you need. Most lock smiths will have a collection of the wafers to choose from.

 

Why not just take the old cylinder apart and clean it? A lot of times, they aren't worn out, just dirty.
If you don't like opening them, you can also spray some brake cleaner into one, let it dry, and then spray in some lubricant made for locks.
I would probably rather have a junkyard OEM lock than a cheapo from eBay.

 

You're probably right and just cleaning the old ones may restore them as the cheapest solution. For $8 it was worth it to me to try it on a spare set incase something went wrong. Now I can take my time with the OEM cylinders and have a new skill if I ever want to rekey any accessories to match the OEM keys.

 

Almost all generic automobile doors have identical lock parts that, if rekeyed, can be opened with any generic key. You must first get the owner's manual for your particular automobile model and familiarize yourself with the lock component before actually rekeying it. You may look this up online or in the car's handbook.

 

Thanks for the write-up.

I bought a used 95 single cab 5-lug a few years ago.

It has 2 keys.
1 works the driver door & gas door, the other the ignition & neither works the pasenger door.
I’ve been contemplating getting an ignition & door set so they all match, with the gas door either rekeyed to match ot just glue a magnet to 1 of 2 keys & stick them on the exposed metal behind the benchseat.

This gives great insite into what possiblies I can do going foreward.

 

Thank you. This was unbelievably informative and helpful for me! I had to rekey a door in
My Tacoma and this came in clutch! Thank you I greatly appreciate your post!