Ignition key stuck in my door ;-(

[deschodt]

Well that was inconvenient... I unlocked my passenger door to let my kid back in the car, and the key did not encounter the usual resistance, something snapped inside the mechanicsm, it turned too easy after that, and got stuck in the door handle's lock. You cannot pull it out as it won't return to the original insertion position...

Thankfully, I was close to home and I vaguely remembered making a copy 5 years ago, and even more luckily I found said copy under 15 minutes with 10 swear words or less ;-) Got the car home, but the key's still stuck in the door... Any recommendations at this point ? Cut it off for aerodynamic benefits ? ;-)

Gonna try and pull the door panel, with the door closed and the Recaro in the way, not gonna be a picnic. If there are tricks, I'm all ears !

Let this be a lesson for those who only have ONE key, go make a copy now, thank me in a few years....

[Napes]

A few thoughts come to mind. I'm assuming you're implying that the door cannot be openned from the inside either.

See if you can insert a very small screwdriver (like that use on eye glasses) along side the key and rotate it. Another thought would be to see if you can use tweezers to turn and extract the piece that's still in the door lock.

If you can get the door open you can then pop the retainer clips along the trailing edge and the bottom of the door liner and reach up to unscrew the front retainer on the handle - you don't need to remove the entire panel from the door.

Then, there is one large screw on the inside side of the tumbler that will release the tumbler for you (or a locksmith) to work on.

Good luck,

Bob Napier

[Collinster742002]

I think he's saying the key's intact but won't come out.

I wonder what part of the mechanism would break in such a way that would prevent the key coming out...

[deschodt]

I think he's saying the key's intact but won't come out.

I wonder what part of the mechanism would break in such a way that would prevent the key coming out...

Yup, sorry I was unclear. The key is intact but it is rotated about 25 degrees in the lock. It needs to go back to vertical to be released. It won't, and I'd rather not break it. At least the car is safely home with an extra stuck key in the passenger door :-)

And yes, the door won't open from the inside either !!!

I know the hard way to do this, I was hoping for an unexpected trick to save the day...

[deschodt]

Victory ! Not even damaged or twisted..

It was a little easier to do at home with some tools, versus on the parking lot of Target with a kid begging to get inside the car ;-)

Turns out pulling a door panel from inside a car, with a Recaro in place and a door that won't unlock is not fun, as predicted... 15 minutes of gymnastics to remove the door handle, window crank, and the window-rotating-knob (the piece of plastic in its center is now mangled, sorry, it was stuck something fierce). Then just unclip, lift up, and try not to damage your headliner or seat in the process... it's tight in there...

Here was the problem:

Excuse the awful drawing... I'm trying to explain the hidden part... The center round piece has a triangular shape piece that the key rotates when you twist the key to lock, unlock. That piece, as you see now (but which you cannot see completely), is supposed to be inside that U shaped channel. Mine had popped out of the channel and the triangular piece was resting outside the channel, wedging itself against the outside of the U in fact, and no amount of twisting would have helped... I used a screwdriver to put some leverage on the U channel and reposition it over the round/triangular bit. Got my key back right away...

Being a fool I immediately tried to relock and unlock to see if I could now fix the issue (loose U channel?) but the door wasn't too excited at the idea, so I did not insist... My car now does not lock any longer, don't tell thieves... It's probably better that way anyway, the driver door was also acting up...

[cbgii]

Thanks for posting how you solved the problem - very insructional and I'll remember it if that ever happens. Great graphic too!

[Mike Self]

turning the key the wrong way one time too many! Try pulling that door upholstery panel with a stock seat in place!

For future reference, the center cover on the vent window knob is removed by pressing the short leg of an allen wrench into the little hole on the knob's back side and pushing--it'll pop right out. If you feel around with the wrench and you'll find the little hole. I'm constantly amazed at how many 2002s I see with mangled center covers! And yeah, I had to learn this particular trick by myself...in 1969!

cheers

mike

[Napes]

As an addition to Mike's directions I put the flat blade of a putty knife behind the allen wrench so it doesn't dig into the door panel vinyl.

Bob Napier

[Jennifer76]

Soooooooo mine did the same thing this morning. Key stuck, rotated about 25 degrees. The door is open but the main latch that s h o u l d move to hook up with the mate on the body- won’t move.  
 

I would love to see that illustration. 
Got lucky that I was in my garage and not at target.  
I’m thinking this is a very similar fix 

[2002iii]

I think your going to need to unscrew and remove the door handle both inside and out and the lock mechanism too. Once it's all out you can clean it out with carb cleaner and re lube it with silicone. Don't use white lithium grease it hardens and gums up.