EMERGENCY! Locked keys inside and it's running!

[vette-dude]

Reminds of me of the two Military Intelligence officers who were late for a very important meeting at the Pentagon. They parked the rental car and jumped out, locked the doors, and then relaized they had left the keys in the ignition. Knowing that they had to take the General to lunch and not wanting to look stupid they decided they had better somehow get the doors open and retrieve the keys. The first one said they should look around the parking lot for a piece of wire to try and push between the weatherstrip and unlock the inside door lock mechanism. The second said that he thought this was a bad idea cause if one of the MP's saw them they may mistake them for someone trying to steal the car and they should be more discreet. Then the first guy produced a pocket knife and said maybe he could work it in between the window glass and weatherstrip and pull up the lock knob. The second one said this would ruin the rubber and the rental car agency would charge them for it. The first one replied;

"Well we better do something quick as it is starting to rain and the TOP is down!!!"

Stupid joke but probably true. Hope you finally got it opened.

Randy

 

[Racerseks]

Thanks for the help and intentions guys! The emergency is over. After 6 hours worth of trying, I went to bed yesterday. With a fresh perspective on things, I had something new to attempt. I was sure the hanger would work, as I used that to get in my other C4 years ago.....but there's the key....."years ago". This car is almost 20 years old now, so locks, switches etc. all seem to have a little more resistence to them.

IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU.....HERE"S WHAT I DID:

First of all, disconnect the battery like BigBlock74 said.

I tried tha hanger, and was dead on the switch and manual throw, but the hanger just had too much flex in it to move the 19 year old switch or throw.....so I went to Home Depot, and got a medium gauge metal rod (unfortuntely, I threw the sticker away, so no stock number) for $1.88. I used a pliers to make a right angle on one end (about 1") and another on the other end.....about 6" from the end. You may want to try the hanger first to get the right shape, and just copy it onto the new rod. This helps, since you have a fresh virgin piece of steel as opposed to a straightened hanger that kinks and turns too much. From here, I just poked it in through the weatherstrip, and popped the electric lock (pushing forward) on the first try. Hope this saves someone else the headache I went through.....that's what these forums are great for.

Of course you can always call pop-a-lock (Roadside actually recommends them). I was just afraid some 17 yr old kid would come by in a Ford Ranger, and proceed to rip the innards out of my door.....and of course, I'm just a die hard do-it-yourselfer with tons of patience!

Another thing I tried (this might save some time) is went to a Chevy dealer for a door schematic.....Didn't really help me.....guess I just don't trust slim-jims.....scary to rip and pull at what you can't see.

Anyway.....hope that helps someone out there someday!

 

[Racerseks]

P.S. Make sure to reconnect the battery before trying to push the switch forward!