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LAK Locksmith Team5 min read
✳07 / 07 · Automotive service
Fixing an ignition that will not turn, sticks, or has a key trapped in it.
- Category
- Automotive
- Availability
- 24/7
- Coverage
- 10 GTA cities
- The visit
- 4 steps
✳On this page
What this actually involves
An ignition that will not turn is often a worn key rounding off against the wafers inside the cylinder rather than a failed ignition — the two feel identical from the driver's seat. We diagnose which it is first, because a correctly cut new key sometimes solves what looks like an expensive problem. When the cylinder has worn or seized, we repair or replace it and key it to your existing key wherever the vehicle allows.
The key and the cylinder wear as a pair
From the driver's seat, a worn key and a dying ignition cylinder feel identical: the key needs a wiggle, then a ritual, then one day it will not turn at all. Inside, a worn key's rounded cuts are mis-setting the wafers; or the wafers themselves have worn grooves that no fresh key can fix. Diagnosis comes first because the treatments differ by an order of magnitude — a new key cut to factory code is a fraction of a cylinder job, and it is the actual cure in a surprising share of “my ignition is broken” calls. We only open the column when the cylinder has genuinely failed.
Repair without multiplying your keys
When the cylinder does need repair or replacement, we keep your key ring intact wherever the vehicle allows: the repaired or new cylinder is keyed to your existing key, so the door, trunk and ignition stay on one key instead of splitting into a his-and-hers of old and new. Most ignition work — including extracting keys snapped off in the cylinder — happens at the vehicle, without a tow.
How the visit goes
Start to finish, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
- Step 01
Diagnose before touching
Key wear measured against the cylinder's behaviour — plus a check for the classic false alarm: steering-lock pressure pinning the key.
- Step 02
Try the cheap cure
Where the key is the culprit, a fresh key cut to factory code — not copied from the worn one — often ends the problem on the spot.
- Step 03
Repair or replace the cylinder
When the cylinder has failed, it is repaired or swapped at the vehicle, with the steering column treated with the respect its airbag deserves.
- Step 04
Key it to what you carry
Wherever the vehicle allows, the finished cylinder accepts your existing key — one key ring, before and after.
What to expect
Diagnosed before anything is replaced, since a worn key is a fraction of the cost of a cylinder
Repaired cylinders keyed to your existing key where possible, so you are not left carrying two
Most ignition work is done at the vehicle rather than requiring a tow
Asked before calling
The questions this job actually gets, answered the way they would be on the phone.
Try this first: press the brake, then rock the steering wheel gently left-right while turning the key. A parked wheel resting against the steering lock pins the cylinder, and it feels exactly like a failure. If the wheel trick does nothing, it is a real fault — call, and we diagnose whether it is the key or the cylinder before anything is replaced.
Where we go
Automotive work is mobile across the GTA — the technician and the equipment come to you, 24/7. Based at 470 N Rivermede Rd, Vaughan.
- Toronto
- Vaughan
- Markham
- Brampton
- Mississauga
- Richmond Hill
- Scarborough
- Pickering
- Ajax
- Oshawa
More automotive work
Not the job you have? The rest of what we do on this side of the trade — every one of them its own page, written the same way.
01Car Lockout
Getting you back into your vehicle without damaging the door, glass or trim.
02Car Key Replacement
Get a new car key cut and programmed by a professional mobile locksmith — fast, reliable service for most makes and models.
03Lost Car Key
All keys lost, nothing left to copy — we originate a working key from scratch.
04Key Fob Replacement
Replacing a lost, broken or water-damaged remote and pairing it to your vehicle.
05Key Programming
Pairing a key or fob to your vehicle's immobilizer so the engine will start.
06Smart Key Programming
Proximity and push-to-start keys programmed for vehicles that never use a blade.
Related reading
The journal covers this side of the trade in depth — how things fail, what they cost you when they do, and what to check before calling anyone at all.
All keys lost: what a locksmith can do at the vehicle
No spare, no key, and the car is in a parking lot. How a replacement is cut and paired on site, what the dealership does differently, and what the security gateway changed.
LAK Locksmith Team4 min read
How transponder keys work — and why a cut key won't start the car
The chip in your key answers a challenge from the car every single time you start it. A plain explanation of the handshake, and what it means when it fails.
LAK Locksmith Team3 min read
The other doors
Everything LAK does sits in one of these: your car, your bike, your home or your business.
- (01)Emergency4 services
- (02)Automotive7 services
- (03)Motorcycle4 services
- (04)Residential4 services
- (05)Commercial4 services