In part 1 I discussed your options for Getting Your Locks Rekeyed.  I also introduced the subject of lock rekeying kits and discussed three different types: a single use small rekeying kit, a custom rekey kit good for occasional use, and a full size manufacturers Rekeying Kit designed for heavy use.

In part 2 I defined the Tools and Parts Commonly Found in Lock Rekeying Kits. 

In this article I will relate my experience rekeying a Schlage deadbolt lock. 

I have never rekeyed a lock and had only a minor understanding of how locks worked.  I found some guides from the Schlage website and read about rekeying my particular lock.  I then purchased a custom rekeying kit on EBay.  I was able to successfully rekey my lock and I am happy to have the custom kit in the event I need to rekey more locks later and the experience and new found knowledge.

I found the tools a bit unwieldy, somewhat due to their small size, inexperience and a less than perfect fit - I do not know if the tools were OEM Schlages or not, however I would guess that OEM tools may have been easier to use.  If anyone has experience with this please comment.  Specifically I found the follower to be an extremely tight fit which made it difficult to move and the cap remover teeth did not match up correctly with the scallops on the cap, the tools circumference seemed smaller than that of the cap - nevertheless, I was able to use the tools successfully.

Lock Rekeying Reference

Here are the manuals for Schlage Lock Rekeying that I used for rekeying locks:

http://consumer.schlage.com/customerservice/pdfs/SCH191_Rekeying_Guide_Final.pdf

http://consumer.schlage.com/installations/P513-325_Rekeying_Manual.pdf

Rekeying the Lock

This is the basic process I went through to rekey my lock,  if you are going to rekey a lock use one of the manuals from the manufacturer as your reference.

With the deadbolt in my hand I  lifted the plastic retainer off of the lock.  Once the retaining ring was off, I lifted the crank off.

I then used the cap remover, I attempted to align the teeth of the cap remover with the scallops on the cap.  I also discovered I must simultaneously depress the cap pin with the cap remover tool while loosening the cap (the pin’s purpose is to prevent the cap from turning).

Once the cap was off,  I removed the tailpiece and the washer and then dumped out the cap pin and its spring.

With the old key in the plug and turned to about two o’clock, I attempted to insert the follower and push the plug out of the cylinder - I found this difficult because of the extremely tight fit of my follower, after a few tries the follower became worn enough that I was successfully able to remove the plug. 

You may spill the bottom pins which are inside the plug during this process - this is ok, you will be dumping them out anyways.  If you  spill the top pins which are in the cylinder, you will have some extra work to do to get these back in (the follower is designed to prevent you from spilling the top pins).

Once I had the plug out, I replaced the old bottom pins with the new bottom pins to make my new key work.  When the correct pins are in place, the tops of the pins sit flush with the plug surface when the key is fully inserted.  I tested several different pins to find the right match, it wasn’t until later that I discovered that the numbers corresponding to the pins are printed right on the key - This is mentioned in the manuals linked above, but I not completely read them.

After I had installed my new pins, I reassembled the lock, installed it in the door and tested my work.  It worked wonderfully.  It probably took me an hour or more to rekey and install the lock, now that I’ve done it once, I should be able to rekey similar locks much quicker.

Articles in this series

Part 1:  Getting Your Locks Rekeyed

Part 2: Tools and Parts Commonly Found in Lock Rekeying Kits

Part 3: Rekeying a Schlage Deadbolt Lock

This is part 2 of the Lock Rekeying Series.  In part 1 I discussed your options for Getting Your Locks Rekeyed.  I also introduced the subject of lock rekeying kits and discussed three different types: a single use small rekeying kit, a custom rekey kit good for occasional use, and a full size manufacturers Rekeying Kit designed for heavy use.  In part 3 I will discuss Rekeying a Schlage Deadbolt Lock.

In this post I will define what some of the common components and tools are in a lock rekeying kit.  To start rekeying locks you should at least have:

1. A follower
2. A variety of bottom pins
3. A deadbolt cap remover if you will rekey deadbolts

Addittional tools and components will make things easier and allow you to rekey a greater variety of locks.

Common Tools for Rekeying Locks

Follower - Tool that is slid into the cylinder while pushing the plug out.  This tool prevents the top pins and springs from falling out.

Deadbolt Cap Remover - Tool that helps in removing the cylinder cap on deadbolt locks

Key Gauge - allows you to identify the pins by measuring the key, or the pins themselves

Removal Tool - tool that can be useful for disengaging knobs and maneuvering other small parts

Tweezers - useful for handling small pins and springs if you aren’t very nimble with small parts

Common Lock Components in Lock Rekeying Kits

Bottom Pins - Pins of varying lengths with one end coming to a point which engages the key, you will normally be changing these when rekeying locks

Top Pins -  Small cylindrical pins which sit between the bottom pins and the springs

Springs - Keeps pressure on the top pins

Cylinder Caps - A screw on cap that locks the cylinder in place on a deadbolt lock

Cylinder Cap Pins - Keeps the cylinder cap in place by engaging the grooves on the cap

Cylinder Cap Pin Springs - Sits beneath the cylinder cap pin and applies pressure to it so that the cylinder cap pin will engage the cylinder cap grooves.

Where You Can Get Lock Rekeying Parts and Tools

• Locksmiths
• Hardware Stores
• Mail-order Companies
• Internet Companies
• Lock Manufacturers
• EBay

Articles in this series

Part 1:  Getting Your Locks Rekeyed

Part 2:  Tools and Parts Commonly Found in Lock Rekeying Kits

Part 3:  Rekeying a Schlage Deadbolt Lock

A common problem homeowners run into is having to carry multiple keys for different locks around the home.  The solution is to rekey your locks.  This post will identify what you need to know and what you can expect if you need to get your locks rekeyed or if you prefer to do it yourself.

Why You Should Rekey Your Locks

There are several reasons you may have for wanting to rekey your locks, some of the most common are that you feel you are carrying around too many keys; perhaps you have lost keys to your home and are worried that others may now have access to your home and belongings; perhaps you recently purchased your home and want to make sure the previous owners do not have access; or you may have had to replace some locks and now your home has mismatched locks.  All of these are valid reasons to look into getting your locks rekeyed.

Your Lock Rekeying Options

There are many different means you can use to rekey your locks.  The method you choose will depend on a variety of things such as the number of locks you have to be rekeyed, cost, time requirements, skill level and willingness to learn.

Using a Locksmith to Rekey Your Locks

The simplest solution is to have a locksmith come to your home and rekey your locks for you, this also may be the most costly since it involves a house call and a professional services; depending on the number of locks, types of locks and the amount of time you have available - this may be the best option.

Rekeying Your Locks at the Hardware Store 

If you only have a few locks that need to be rekeyed and are comfortable removing the locks from your doors, you can take the locks off and take them to a locksmith or a hardware store.  Locksmiths and many hardware stores will usually rekey them for you for a small fee - you will be saving yourself the expense of a house call by removing and reinstalling the locks yourself.

Rekeying a Lock Yourself  - Lock Rekeying Kits

If you like to learn new skills or want to try rekeying a lock yourself,  you can find several different kits for getting the job done.  Rekeying kits are brand specific, so when choosing a make sure it will work with your locks.  If you have different brands of locks on your home, you may not be able to make them work with the same key.

Single Use Rekey Kits With Keys

 One of the cheapest methods are some of the single key rekey kits such as Change-A-Lock that are available online or in home improvement stores.  These kits will generally contain several precut keys and pins and a few tools to enable you to rekey several locks.  However, by using one of these kits, you won’t be able to match one of your existing keys since these kits are designed to rekey all locks to the keys that come with the kit.

Professional Rekey Kits

A second do it yourself method for rekeying your own locks is to by a lock rekeying kit from the lock manufacturer.  These kits will contain all of the tools, pins and other parts you need to rekey your locks.  If you don’t have a key that you want to rekey the lock to you can have one made by a locksmith if you tell them the pins you are using in your lock.  Alternatively you could buy one lock in addition to your rekey kit and use this key as the new key for all of your locks.  Homeowners will probably not want to get a rekeying kit - this solution would be ideal for landlords who can justify the expense of getting a kit and will likely be having to rekey locks frequently.

Custom Rekey Kits

A third option which is cheaper than a lock rekeying kit but offers more flexibility than the single key rekey kits is to look for a custom kit on ebay.  These custom ebay kits will generally have the basic tools and a wide assortment of pins, though not as many of them as a full kit, that you will need to rekey several locks with a variety of different keys - these are similar to the full kits, just cheaper and smaller.   As with the manufacturer rekey kits, these kits do not come with precut keys so you should have a key that you would like to rekey to, or have a key made.

Articles in this series

Part 1:  Getting Your Locks Rekeyed

Part 2:  Tools and Parts Commonly Found in Lock Rekeying Kits

Part 3:  Rekeying a Schlage Deadbolt Lock

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

The Hard Way

Thinking back, I recalled how I’ve seen this dealt with before - I got out my hammer a good screwdriver and a few other tools.  I tried knocking it loose using the hammer and screwdriver - hitting it in the appropriate direction of course.  After some time the nut was severely deformed, I decided cutting it off would be a viable option, that nut would not be going back on.  I got out my cheap Dremel knock-off and started working on the nut with a cut off wheel.  I’ve heard that a real Dremel tool would emit a shower of sparks under such a situation, but this tool would be lucky to get a single spark every 15 seconds.  It did cut some, but it was slow going.  I alternated between this and the hammer screwdriver method for a while.  I tried some files, but the position made it too awkward. 

Eventually the hammer and screwdriver did the trick and the nut turned.  After several more minutes I had it off and in my hand.   I figure it took at least a couple of hours to get that nut off, but it was done - I was relieved.

Damaged Nut

There was one problem remaining however, the second nut.  The second nut was still securely fastened and not in the best condition, it wasn’t rounded as bad as the other one at the time that I resorted to hammer and screwdriver.  But this second nut was harder to get to, and it was getting pretty late - I decided to turn in for the night. 

An Easier Way

During this experience I discovered the existence of some new tools:  bolt and nut extractors and nut splitters.  One of the local shops used an extractor and got the other nut off without too much difficulty.  This allowed me to finish my job of cleaning my EGR valve.  Later I found some of these nut extractors on sale at Sears Hardware - I’d recommend using them before the hammer and screwdriver method.  I don’t have a nut splitter, but if I get the chance, I’d like to try one out and write a post about it.

Craftsman Bolt-Out 6 pc. Damaged Bolt/Nut Remover Set

Craftsman Bolt-Out Damaged Bolt and Nut Removers

Thanks to the guy at the shop and a little research I learned a few things that day:

• Use Bolt and Nut extractors to get off rounded nuts and bolts before resorting to more brute force methods.
• 6 point sockets get a better grip on nuts and bolts and are better for highly torqued or stuck fasteners - they are less likely to round off the fastener. 
• 12 point sockets are easier to use in tight spaces since they can fit on the nut in twice as many positions as a 6 point socket, however having less surface area contact with the nut they are more likely to round it off when used with a lot of force.

1. Recycling.  Although well intentioned, I feel the fascination with a community wide recycling program is not fiscally responsible nor in the neighborhood’s best interest.  Recycling is a business; any valuable recyclable materials will rarely find their way into the recycling bins of a thrifty homeowner who knows he can save them and get paid for recycling them later. Any remaining materials are cost prohibitive to recycle in any format other than utilizing a central collection point.  Hence many companies charge for recycling services, feeling that the income from the valuable items is insufficient to offset the recycling costs. 

Furthermore, it is debatable whether a recycling service driving through a neighborhood creates any net benefit in the end.  There are high associated fuel and labor costs for vehicles and workers for a relatively small amount of recoverable material.  What percentage of recycling benefit is lost to the increased emissions of a large vehicle driving through the neighborhood for several hours once a week?  

I would support any free recycling program, perhaps some companies may be willing to place recylcing bins at the park or the Association building.  I will not support a paid recycling program since I feel it is a foolish way to squander community resources and not a net benefit to the environment - especially when we can get paid to recycle the valuable materials on our own. 

2. Neighborhood Watch Program.  There frequency of petty crimes such as car breakins and small theft in the neighborhood is too high, many of these crimes likely go unreported.  Of those that are reported, relatively few are likely ever resolved.  Our community could really benefit from a neighborhood watch program. Besides the added benefit of providing the neighborhod with additional free patrols and added security, it increases the association and bonding of neighborhood residents.

3.  Quarterly Home Owner Association Budget Reports, If honesty is the best policy, transparency is the best guarantee. Homeowners have an interest and right to know where their payments are being spent and what surpluses or shortfalls may exists.  With this knowledge some homeowners may become more involved in their associations activites.

4. Speed Bumps.  There is an ongoing problem in the neighborhood with many drivers traveling too fast on the residential streets, often there are children playing in the area and cars parked along the street.  This is a recipe for disaster, Please consider putting speedbumps in the residential streets, this is extremely more important than a recycling program, plus it will save carbon emissions in that it will deter drivers from excessive acceleration and speed in the neighborhood.

Safety

Since I was working on the fuel system, I needed to follow extra precautions to avoid an accident.  I began my work on the car after it had set a while, you don’t want to work on the fuel system of a hot car.  I then disconnected the battery, it is a good idea to place a non-conductive material such as a old towel over the terminals, you would not want to have an accidental spark occur on this job.

Relieving Fuel System Pressure

To relieve the pressure from the cars fuel lines, I loosened the gas cap and loosened the bolt at the end of the fuel rail.  You should have a wrag handy to catch any escaping gas.

Getting to the Fuel Filter 

According to my manual, I would need to remove the vacuum control box to get to the fuel filter.  I found that it was helpful to remove the air filter and air intake hose as well since removing this made removing the vacuum control box easier.

There were five vacuum lines that were connected to by control box, I disconnected these from the other ends where they attached at various points on my engine. One at the EGR, three on the intake manifold and one at the charcoal filter which is below the control box.

Using a 10 inch extension and a 10mm socket I unbolted the two screws tolding control box housing, lifted it out and placed it over off to the side, I did not need to disconnect the electrical connections.

Vacuum Control Box on a 93 Honda Accord

The Fuel Filter
At last I was able to get to the fuel filter.  The filter has two connections to the fuel lines on the top, both of these need to be taken out.  There is a clamp that holds it in place against the firewall.  On one side of the clamp is a single bolt which keeps the clamp tightly around the fuel filter.  I removed this bolt and was able to get the filter out.

Fuel Filter on a 93 Honda Accord

My new fuel filter came with some copper washers, I had only seen one washer on the banjo connection when I removed the filter, but after reading in my manual I started to look for the second one.  It had become fused to the banjo bolt.  I removed this old washer and replaced both of them with the new copper washers and then installed the new fuel filter.  Make sure to re-tighten the bolt at the end of the fuel rail if you loosened it.

After you get the fuel filter back on, you will want to start the car and check for leaks.  I tightened mine pretty good since I didn’t want to have a leaky fuel system; I don’t have a torque wrench so I would say I gave it about an 8 or a 9.  The manual lists the torque that it should be tightened to.   I started the car before connecting the vacuum lines - it ran pretty rough, the check engine light came on and I couldn’t hardly keep it running.  After it shut off I looked for leaks, there were none.  I reconnected all the vacuum components and started it again to check for leaks - the car ran much better now; there were no leaks.  I finished the assembling everything, cleaned and packed away the tools.  I completed this job in probably one and a half hours.

The starting fluid came in handy the first time my car stalled that day.  I loosened the air filter and sprayed some fluid in the intake and then went around and start the car again.  It worked pretty good and I was shortly on my way.  So much for the restarting difficulties.  I stayed off of the freeway for a while in-case the stalling problem returned, eventually I got back on the freeway and not long afterwards my car stalled again under similar circumstances.  This time I did not make it off the freeway.  I pulled off into the shoulder lane partially in the grass.  I tried starting it again with the starting fluid, it would turn over and start to run, but once the fluid was burned up the engine would stop.  I tried this several times, but could not keep the car running.  

I decided I wasn’t going to make it to work that day.  Eventually a tow truck driver came and as we were about to tow my car to a shop I half-heartedly tried starting it one more the car once more, it started right up.  I agreed to go back to his shop anyways so they could look at it to see if they could find a problem.  It would be $75 for the shop to look at it, which would take about an hour.  If I had some work done, that charge would be applied to the bill.  

Unfortunately, the mechanic couldn’t connect to my car with his code reader; on this car you need to use a jumper wire to jump the service connections, then you count the flashes on the service engine light to get the code.  My service engine light wasn’t coming on anyways, so we ended up talking and speculating on some potential causes of the problem.  They only charged $30 instead of the $75 since they couldn’t do much for me and it didn’t take to long, the information I got was good information even if it didn’t solve my problem.   Starting issues are either fuel, fire (spark) or air issues.  Due to the special circumstances we assumed there may be a fuel pump problem.  I drove home without a problem.

When I came home I started doing some Internet research on the fuel pump and replacing it.  Replacing the fuel pump on a 93 Honda Accord turns out to be a little bigger job that I wanted since the gas tank has to be taken off.  While researching this, I noticed some information on problems with the Main Relay.  Having hairline fractures in the solder joints seems to cause a variety of odd starting behaviors.  Since my car has been having odd starting behavior for some time, I decided to investigate this further.  

After searching for a while in the car and on the Internet,  I eventually found the Main Relay above the cruise control box, and took it out.  After opening the relay, I saw the hairline fractures on three of the solder joints.  I got my soldering iron and a magnifying glass and started repairing them (This site has excellent information on this issue and the solution: http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelaydefine.html).

Cruise Control Box on a 93 Honda Accord

Main Relay on a 93 Honda Accord

I reassembled all the parts and gave it a try.  The soldering job wasn’t pretty but it worked and the car has been starting very reliably since performing this fairly easy job.  So yes, there definitely was a fuel issue, caused by an electrical issue.   However, I am not sure if this is the cause of the stalling issue.  Nevertheless, fixing those solder joints definitely solved my starting problems.   I’ll be doing some tune up work and replacing the fuel filter just to be sure, I hope I don’t have to replace the fuel pump.  If I do, at least I can blog about it.

I had suspected it was an speedometer cable since I had a non-working speedometer and many years before.  In that particular case the speedometer cable became disconnected from the transmission. 

Being unable to find an speedometer cable on my Honda, I got on the Internet and started doing some research.  The Internet led me to believe it could be a speed sensor issue.  I realized through my searching why I couldn’t locate the speedometer cable on my Honda - it doesn’t have one.  The system is all electronic.  

The pictures of Speed Sensors on the Internet did not look like anything on my Honda, I later discovered that most of the pictures on the Internet are for Speed Sensors from 89-94 models.  So I headed down to the nearest auto parts store to confirm my suspicion and yes, the OBDC II codes showed that it was a failed Vehicle Speed Sensor.

Most Auto Parts stores didn’t have Speed Sensors in stock or employees who were familiar with them so it was hard to get a good idea of what it looked like, but one store was able to pull up a picture and I eventually found a good picture on the Internet.

Speed Sensor Location

The speed Sensor is located in the back passenger side of the engine compartment. It is down on top of the back of the transmission.  The sensor is pretty far down and you will need a pretty long extension with your socket set to get access to it.  I had connected both a 10 inch and a 6 inch extension to my ratchet; this allowed me to get to it pretty easily.  A light source will come in handy.

Speed Sensor Replacement

The Sensor is easier to get to if you take off the air intake hose and filter. One screw holds the sensor in place and it has an electrical connector on the top.  After removing the electrical connector, remove the screw.  Once the Screw is out you can remove the Speed Sensor.  Mine was stuck in there pretty good, but it came free with a little wiggling and pulling.  The new one went in pretty easily, there was a slight snap when it goes all the way in and makes a good seal.  replace the screw and the connector, then replace the air intake hose and filter if you removed them.

I remember when I was in college there were several cardboard-only dumpsters in the area, these were a great source of free boxes, there were a few medical offices near the hospital that always had nice new boxes in their dumpsters.  The area where I live now doesn’t have the cardboard only recycling dumpsters through, which required a little more resourcefulness.

Luckily I found a vending company on the way home from work earlier this week.  They had plenty of boxes in their dumpster which I could see from the road.  Knowing this is something that I would be needing very shortly I turned around and set about my designs of obtaining free moving boxes.  I went in the loading docks and found a gentleman unloading his truck after doing the days runs.  He agreed to let me have the boxes he was throwing out of his truck.  I guess I saved him a bit of extra work since he no longer had to carry so many boxes to the dumpster.  On the way out, I grabbed a nice box from the dumpster as well.  I intend on visiting this place again, because we need some more boxes.  Unfortunately today it rained and the boxes in the dumpster were all wet and the loading bay doors were closed. 

 You can also get boxes from Wal-mart.  Someone had mentioned if you go to Wal-mart at about 11 at night, we can get a lot of boxes.  11 pm. was a bit early, Wal-Mart’s trucks arrive about midnight. Sure enough though, after midnight we were able to pick up several free boxes again.  Ironically I did notice that Wal-mart sells cardboard boxes, we didn’t get any of those paid boxes though.  We did take some of the free ones that were sitting in a shopping cart at the end of the packing supplies isle.

After getting our fill for the night we left the store, the greeter/security person checked our basket and we were shortly on our way with lots of moving boxes on the cheap!