Vauxhall Owners Forum banner

Astra 1.6 W reg, keys lost - doors dead locked

4K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  MSG 
#1 ·
Can the dead lock on this Aastra be defeated in any way? I managed to get to the door lock button, through a small gap between the door and frame, and pulled it up using an ad hock device, to unlock position, but still none of the doors would open, I think the dead locking has been activated, and will only unlock with proper door keys. Doors are refusing to open even if all the door locks are in up (unlock) position, including rear doors.

Or is it a case of taking down the chassis number and getting Vauxhall dealer to supply replacement keys, and what about the immobilizer chip? will they be able to supply new keys with this chip? or will the new keys have to be programmed to the car's security system.

thanks in advance. Astra belongs to a friend who gave his car to another friend to service it, but that other friend had left the keys in his own car that got broken into and thieves stole the Astra keys.
 
#2 ·
To get a dealer to sort out a key you will need the security pass code, logbook and some ID before they would do it I think. Where is the car now, if someones got the keys for it you really need to make sure it can't be taken if you have't already.
Getting a new key will let you drive it but you really need to get the lock changed and the alarm /immobiliser re-programmed so the old key can't be used.

Will the doors open if you use the handle inside ? I haven't tried it but would have though there ought to be a way for anyone in the car to get out if the doors were deadlocked.
 
#4 ·
Sorry for coming back late, they are not a member of AA or RAC, no I am afraid I also tried everything to open the doors to gain access to the car, as all the windows are electric, without a key in the ignition the windows cannot be wound down, tried pulling door handles both from inside and outside, they obviously pull out but nothing happens, believe it or not this car was also a victim of break in, someone broke its quarter rear window, and despite which they could not gain entry into the car.

Actually what happened to this car here is a story: it broke down about 6 streets from the woman owner's house, ( at this stage as we don't know the cause of break down, engine fails to start, since we cannot gain entry we can't diagnose the exact cause, we suspect either fuel problem or cam belt breakage)

The woman rang her son who towed it for her and brought the car over and parked very near my street in an adjoining road, where my mate does road side car repairs, so she left it with him and gave him her Astra's keys, he placed her keys in his car's glove box as he intended to see her car the next day, but overnight my mechanic mate who owns a Zafira had its rear quarter glass broken and and thieves stole a few of his tools along with this woman's Astra car keys that he left in his Zafira's Glove box, there has been a spate of car break ins in my street and adjoining streets and this month alone 8 cars to my knowledge have been victim of these thefts with broken quarter windows, my own Nissan Micra was also a victim but I was lucky as they didn't have to break any of its windows to gain access, somehow they managed to open its door and left it wide open after raiding my glove box too, possibly looking for sat navs, and then believe it or not, last night this woman's Astra that was towed near by to be looked at also got broken into as the thief or gang of theives who have been operating in mine and adjoining streets managed to break Astra's rear quarter window, but could not gain accesss due to dead locking, every car that was broken into (rear quarter window smashed) and tried to gain entry but failed as all doors were dead locked.

The woman was suggesting scrapping this 1.6 Astra if the repairs may be major issue and expense such as if the cam belt broke, and now the additional expense with a new set of keys, hence unless we can gain access to inside without breaking one of the main side windows to jump in and only then my mechanic mate knows someone who can make him a duplicate key but he also needs the ignition collar to programe the chip, I have an idea to defeat the dead locking by drilling out the black plastic door handle that holds the lock barrel and the pull handle, (not drilling the barrel as that would be ruined beyond use) but we can always get a new plastic door handle moulding, and gaining access to a microswitch that releases the dead locking which is normally operated by the door key. this might work out cheaper than to actually break the side windows to jump in and open then bonnet and remove the ignition collar etc.
Once we gain entry, we can open bonnet and see if the cam belt is intact, if it is only then we may proceed to get a new set of keys made and sort out her non starting issues. Otherwise she is going to scrap this W reg Astra 1.6l in silver car, all doors and side panels appears in good nick.
 
#5 ·
I have a whole silver W reg Astra for sale at a good price if he wants a spare with locks / ECU / transponder - the whole car lol.
 
#6 ·
Thanks Dom will let you know, been very busy both of us so did not proceed with opening the door by drilling out around the locking barrel to engage micro switch to release dead bolts, but i am just wondering if disconnecting or reconnecting battery may trigger the bolts to open position providing we can get to battery from the bonnet somehow.
 
#7 ·
Hi Dom, we managed to get the car's door unlocked by calling a lock smith, and he will make us a key if we can remove the barrel, and also he will be able to supply a new transponder and programe it into the system through the ignition switch collar ring. He will probably charge altogether about £150.00 for this he said, for opening the door he charged £50 already, so another £100 for the key and transponder.

After the car door was unlocked, we opened the hood, and wanted to find what caused that car not start, straight away I noticed the engine pulley was at an angle, and the belt was still on it, so it turned out that the engine pulley which is also notched had its centre bolt completely loose, hence the crankshaft was not spinning it, and I am guessing the pulley is essential for ignition timing as it had tooth all the way around it and a gap to suggest TDC, so that may be the reason why it wouldn't start, however I will put forward to the owner if she might be interested in your car, which is similar and same year and running I guess, so please confirm if it is and how much you would be looking for it, I will forward her the details, she will make the decision and if she wants to go ahead then I will let you know. cheers.
 
#8 ·
Hi Mike afraid it sold this weekend - someone got a bargain car for a couple of hundred £££

Bottom pulley coming loose is a common issue on the Astras - assuming the keyway and woodruff key isn't damaged you should be able to replace the bolt, torque it up (very tight) with a bit of Loctite and off you go. Probably worth changing the timing belt while you're at it - you need to take the bottom pulley off to do this and it is normally a pig of a job to get off !
 
#9 ·
Thanks Dom for your advise. No worries if its gone, it is gone.

It is also Automatic, and I found probably one of the safest cars against theft, doors cannot be opened even with door locks popped up, (dead Locking) the microswitch is hidden well out of the way, and cannot be got to by drilling, once in Parked (P) position you cannot disengage it to Neutral without ignition key being on! plus the immobiliser is also hard to get to. Though I wonder why the factory fitted space alarm did not go off when they smashed the rear window and popped their hand in to unlock.

In the last week alone around 20 cars mostly Vauxhalls have been broken into, someone raiding Glove boxes, assuming people leave valuables in it, the police had always been advising motorist to lock valuables in their glove boxes, but my advise would be to leave nothing in Glove boxes and leave them open if you want to avoid unnecessary bother.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top