2001 Tacoma. Driver's side key won't insert into the lock.

I think a pin or whatever broke and dropped down in the center of the tumbler.

I can only get my key about half way in. I tried graphite. Didn't work. Then I sprayed about an ounce of WD-40. Whatever it is didn't go back into place.

I tried a bunch of ways to get the key in. I started wiggling from the bottom and going up. From the top down, etc.

Has that happened to anybody here? I read a lot of posts about the tumbler not turning, but I didn't find this problem.

Does anybody have a link to a video that shows how to fix it?

I searched YouTube and didn't find one. I found a video about how to get the door panel off of a later model Tacoma. Mine's a little different, but I think I can get that done.

Do I need to replace the tumbler/cylinder?

If yes, is this the right one...

https://www.amazon.com/NFSpeeding-C...114-475c-9083-85a101d93444&pd_rd_i=B09NPLFQ6S

Thanks

 

Sadly I have lock Smith friends it is an easy job to rebuild lock cylinders.

a few minutes while catching up on the gossip

I have no idea the real world prices .

Just be aware those plastic clips get brittle and break so easy!

I don`t think i would go with low cost products.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I called two local locksmiths and they wanted $400-$600 to rebuild or replace the cylinder depending on what they ran into.

 

Crazy high prices, for sure warrant some more DIY effort before conceding.

If you're uncomfortable taking the door panels apart to reach the cylinders, I would suggest using a pick (more on that in a moment) with lots of Teflon dry lubricant to get the stuck pin to move. Stay away from the wd40.

You can either make a pick or just get a set from Amazon. You can easily make a simple pick using the metal backer in an old windshield wiper blade.

If the pin is truly dislodged and the spring is damaged etc... Then getting the cylinder out or letting a pro deal with it might be the only way forward.

 

Northern California.

I worked in an auto body shop from 14-17-years-old and door panels were a LOT easier to remove back then. And most of the clips were spring steel -- often diamond shaped -- and never broke. Also, the plastics were of much higher quality.

I'm getting pretty old and electric door locks were new then. Electric windows had been around in higher priced cars for several years. At least that was my experience with the cars that came into the shop.

I definitely get what you're saying about the plastic pieces breaking soon especially on the door cylinders. I'm thinking about how I can strengthen them.

Currently, I'm thinking about installing them, then strategically wrapping the plastic with fiberglass thread and using a cyanoacrylate as the "resin" matrix to bond it to the plastic.

There's probably something better that stays a little more flexible. Maybe even something as simple as Elmer's white glue is better choice. It stays more flexible, and the f-glass is what actually provides the strength. The glue is basically just to keep the f-glass in place.

I had a buddy who made his living building hot rods and customs, but he passed away several years ago. That dude could come up with some crazy solutions that worked really well. Safe. Smart. Strong. Etc.

One of his favorite sayings was, "If you want to know how something can't be done hire an engineer. If you want to know how something can be done, hire a high-quality hot rod builder."

Any thoughts on my crazy solution to beef-up the plastic?

I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm a little light on cash right now and need to do this myself.

 

Thanks, Andy01DblCabTacoma.

I'll try the Teflon.

I actually got stuck at the drug store and had to call a mobile locksmith to come out: $154 just to open the door.

The passenger side tumbler: I can get the key all of the way in but it would only turn to lock. It wouldn't turn counter-clockwise to unlock.

When the guy came out he said that on the 2001's they used discs as pins. I looked for pictures online to see if I could figure out how to pick it, but didn't find anything.

Any idea what he was talking about that the pins are discs?

 

It's unnecessary. Non-Toyota parts exist for all the plastic bits at fair prices. For the amount of effort that you'd put into reinforcing stuff I'd be done several times over using new (OEM or aftermarket) bits.

The door clips themselves are super easy to find. If you break the door panel (don't, slow down and use the right trim tool), you may have to resort to some sort fiber reinforced epoxy or something. But far better not to end up in that situation.

 

Your key is worn out. If the cylinders are OEM- you can have the dealer cut a new key for the vin at a pretty reasonable price.

 

Thanks. I have four keys. I'll give them all a shot.

 

You were right! The passenger door worked flawlessly using another key. I can now lock my truck. Thanks!

 

I have always removed the lock cylinders myself .

It seems prices for anything are so very high.

Good luck!

 

The easy fix for the drivers side is to swap the cylinders from passenger to drivers side now that you have a working key.

 

Nojrd, thanks again for the video. I subscribed to Timmy's channel.

Yesterday, I searched YouTube and watched 4 or 5 and this one is definitely the best.

I hope you get your cylinders working smoothly.

 

I think that I'm going to do something similar. I watched the video that you posted and that taught me that I can swap-out the "hardware" for lack of a better word from the working passenger side to the driver's side.

I'm thinking that I'll buy an aftermarket cylinder for the passenger side and just carry two keys with me.

I jumped online and did a search for locksmiths close to me. I went to Yelp and called the first 6 on the list. They're all mobile-only and ridiculously pricey.

I dumped that approach and went to yellowpages.com. At least they let you know upfront if the locksmith has a brick and mortar location. I called the closest one. If I brought the tumbler in it would cost me $120.

And it's 40 miles away. So, 80 round trip. In NorCal Chevron is $4.90/gallon right now. That's much better than it was a year or so ago: it was almost $7 here.

I have more time than money right now, so I think I'll take my chances on the $15 aftermarket cylinder and hope that I don't regret it.

 

Again, thanks for the help. I got the driver's side cylinder replaced today: aftermarket. The mech feels very solid and turns smoothly. Hope that it lasts a long time.

Nojrd, it was totally different from Timmy's video. Yet, I doubt that I could have gotten the job done without it.

My door panel is different and the cylinder doesn't have the large C-clip(?), uh, U-clip(?) holding it in place.

Mine uses a bolt. Remove both bolts holding the handle in place. Then you push the handle towards the outside and that gives enough room to twist the cylinder down and out.

Something that was really cool is that not one of plastic clips holding the door panel in place broke.

I did mess up something. The switch on the driver's side door panel to lock/unlock the doors only worked on the passenger side before. Now, it doesn't work at all.

I made sure that the contacts clicked into place. I wish that I had thought to test that before putting the door panel back in place.

 

Thankfully, I've never had to replace the ignition cylinder. If I had to I probably would go with OEM, too.

So far, the door cylinder is solid. It locks/unlocks easier than the OEM on the passenger side.

I was going to take side-by-side pictures, but realized you can't tell any difference from a picture.

The only thing I can see that's different is that window to see the pins/discs is slightly narrower on the aftermarket: 1/2mm?

 

Late to the thread but I had a similar problem and looked high and low for oem and couldn’t find one. (My plastic piece that bolts to the door broke)

Ended up buying aftermarket from rock auto and low and behold it arrived in a sealed Toyota parts bag with oem markings.

I pulled the lock cylinder and wafers out and moved over the old wafers into the new cylinder and filed down the one broken wafer and now everything is rekeyed.

 

Thanks jtakeda. I saw some aftermarket cylinders that had the plastic piece that bolts to the door: a "bar" with a hole in the end to bolt to your door handle.

I kept searching and found one that looked the most like OEM with steel instead of plastic and ordered it. I hope that I understand what you meant by, "My plastic piece...". Also, very cool that what you received was marked OEM.

The only plastic piece on the aftermarket cylinder that I ordered is the clamp that holds the rod coming up from below. Sorry, not a mechanic and don't know what that part is called.

If I ever get enough confidence, I may pull everything apart and remove, replace or file down the broken wafers on the OEM cylinder.

Now, that I can lock my truck and get back into it with confidence, I'll disassemble the driver's side OEM tumbler and go from there.

It would certainly be better to only need one key.

Again, thanks

 

Just wanted to add something in case somebody reads this later: I wish that I had thought of putting graphite into the keyhole and the disc/wafer window on the new cylinder before installing.

That would've let gravity do most of the work and could've shaken the cylinder a bit to distribute the graphite more evenly.

 

Gonna revive this thread. Does anyone know the OEM manufacturer for the door lock cylinders? On rock auto i found “WVE” which has a Toyota logo key. Doesn’t say the material it’s made from though. Similar to the above post, I’d like steel as opposed to aluminum.