Dealing with a jammed car lock can be stressful, especially if you are late for work or stuck on a highway in the middle of nowhere. Luckily there are various methods you can use to get into your car before you need to contact a repair shop. These require a little bit of strength, ingenuity, and skill, which you can master easily. In this post, we will see how you can wriggle yourself out of such a situation.
Use your shoelace
This will work only with a pulling-up lock mechanism but is worth a try. Tie a small loop on your shoelace, gently push the shoelace into the door, get the loop around the lock and gently pull it up.
Use a coat hanger
This method works with cars that have a horizontal lock. For this, you have to first untwist a coat hanger to make a hook, lower it into the door, get it around the lock and pull up to open the door.
Use a tennis ball
Though this can be a little challenging, it works if you have the patience to get it done. Make a small hole in a tennis ball, place it directly over the keyhole and push the ball towards the car. The intense air force will help unlock the car.
Use a spatula
Similar to the shoelace and coat hanger techniques, you need to insert the lever carefully in the lock to lift it and open the door.
Use a screwdriver and rod
This uses the same principle used for the shoelace, coat hanger, and spatula methods. You make a little space with the screwdriver and use the rod to push open the lock. However, be careful as the screwdriver can damage the interior and exterior of your car.
Use an inflatable wedge
This, again, uses the same principle as the screwdriver and rod method but uses compressed air to get it done. With this, you can quickly open the car within a minute or so. This method does not damage the car in any way. However, these inflatable wedges can be quite expensive and hard to find.
Use a strip of plastic (packing grade)
Bend the strip to form a loop, insert it in the car and carefully lift the lock. The same way you would have done with the other methods.
Use professional lock picking tools
If you know a thing or two about picking locks and if you have the necessary tools, this skill will be a great asset for you.
How to disable the Central Locking system of a car
If your car is of an advanced make where you cannot use the above hacks, you will need to disable the central locking system if the car key hob isn’t working. This can be crucial especially if you need access to your car regularly but don’t want to use the locking system every time. Though your car’s user manual can tell you how to disable your central locking system, you can disable it with a few simple steps if you do not have it with you.
1. Close all the doors of the car and disable its perimeter alarm (if there is one). Use the ‘Unlock’ or ‘Disable’ feature on your car key fob to do this.
2. Next, insert the key in the ignition switch and turn it to the ‘Off’ position
3. Turn your key to the ‘run’ position and press the ‘unlock’ button 3 times.
4. Turn the ignition key from the ‘Run’ to the ‘Off’ position
5. Now, press the ‘unlock’ button on the car key fob thrice.
6. Turn the ignition switch back to ‘Run’. Do points 2 through 5 within a span of 30 seconds
7. Once this is done, your car’s horn will chirp, indicating the disablement of the car’s automatic locks.
8. The next time you want to enable the central locking system, you can press the ‘unlock’ button on the power door.
9. Then press the lock button and wait for the car’s horn to chirp to confirm this.
10. To exit the enable/disable mode, switch off the ignition to confirm the changes.
Call a locksmith
If you have tried and tried with no result, you have no other option but to call a locksmith. If your car is of an advanced make, you will have to get professional help to access it.
Summing it up
You need not panic if you are locked out of your car. A little patience and skill are enough to gain access to and to remove your car lock. However, this also means your car is vulnerable to theft. To ensure this does not happen, do not leave anything of value in the car when you are gone. Make it a point to check whether your car is locked or not before leaving it at the parking lot.