Lost My Keys! (Read: I'm a Dork)

[swebster]

Brought the MH home on Friday night, locked it. Opened it on Saturday to clean it up and fix some odds and ends, left it open. Planned to take it back to the office around 1:00. Started looking for my keys at 12:30. Stopped looking around 4:30. I've been through several of the stages of missing keys and am now at the stage where you try and replace the ignition cylinder. I found spare keys for everything else but the ignition.

Got a replacement cylinder at my local Auto Zone - but - the procedure for replacing the cylinder requires a KEY! Yes...you must insert your key, turn the ignition all the way to the left and depress an internal catch using a paper clip through a small hole in the cylinder. This would work great if I had planned ahead to lose my key but with no actual key I can't remove the old one. I also can't seem to remove the entire assembly for a bench replacement because you need to remove the cylinder to remove the threaded trim ring.

The dash has been in an out three times so far and I cannot figure out how to get this out. Should I resort to a dent puller and just slam it out? Is there another less "criminal" way to do this? The new cylinder looks like if you provided enough force it would come out....but I'm so good at turning one project into two or three I'd thought I would ask first.

BTW - My car key, office key, PO Box key, etc. were all on the same ring. I figure the best way to find them is to spend three of four days replacing each key one by one...then it will turn up in a jacket pocket or something equally humiliating.

[thenewkid64]

Steven,

Did you check in the bottom of the tool box you were using? I found a misplaced set there once. But I also have 4 sets of keys because I have gone through this exercise before and vowed to NEVER do it again.

[robandzoe]

I went home from NC to NY on leave one time...driving. About half way back to NC, I looked for the keys to the Airstream I have been living in, and realized I left them in NY.....how do I get into the trailer, to get my uniforms to go to work - the Marines...and showing up in Civies wouldn't be goood. Anyways, I was in the process of replacing my hot water heater and had not put the new one in yet...Yup, $5 and the first kid I could find, and they crawled through the hot water whole, into the bathroom, and unlocked the trailer for me. The wife Fedexed the keys to me...I feel for you. Retrace your steps, in a closet, on a tire, in the bumper, storage area, or on a shelf somewhere....did you go to the rest room, kitchen for lunch.

Rob

[87MH]

Originally Posted by swebster

.........but I'm so good at turning one project into two or three I'd thought I would ask first...........

How 'bout down the defrost vent?

I've retrieved a couple from there on FoMoCo's.

[swebster]

It's just ridiculous! I was playing with the kids in the park behind the house yesterday so I spend a far amount of time today sifting through mulch around the slides! Been through all of the laundry, emptied every drawer, all of the coats, shoes, the Jeep, the front yard the back yard. I knew it was time to stop when I was inside the dog crate on all fours thinking...maybe the dog took them...time for a beer and some reflection.

Luckily...I had a set of replacements for everything but the VW and the ingition on the 345. So I'm down to two missing keys. The VW is a simple, albeit expensive, process of giving my VIN to a dealership and waiting a week, but the MH is driving me nuts. $5.99 for the part and no earthly way to install it.

I really good friend stopped by in the middle of this mess today and suggested that I put those little beeping keychains (keyfinders?) on them....great suggestion if it were yesterday!

All I can do now is laugh and figure out how to install my brandy-new cylinder. The beer is helping. Maybe I should pour beer on the dashboard or sacrifice a barn yard animal to the lost key Gods?

AAARRRGGGHHHHH!

[Edie]

I have lost my keys MANY, MANY times. I have learned how to find them.

Number one: they are not in a logical place; if they were you'd have found them by now. So stop looking in logical places.

Go where you were when you last had them, and take whatever you had with you. Start doing what you were doing. Try to remember EVERYTHING as you go through this.

Try to remember what you were thinking about. Pick up everything you picked up the first time. Follow your thoughts and actions as closely as possible.

Have your drink in your hand if you had one before. Have your sunglasses, wrench, etc. Wear the same clothes you were wearing.

Here's what happened. You needed your hands to do something, so you set your keys down. The spot was convenient or made sense AT THAT MOMENT. It doesn't make sense out of context. So you have to get back into that context.

It sounds crazy, but it really works to find your lost keys or anything else that you simply set down in a strange place.

Good luck!

[overlander63]

Steven, grab a 1/8" drill bit, and your favorite cordless drill, and drill the bottom edge of the keyhole out, then turn the lock cylinder with a screwdriver. If you don't break the bit, it should take about 15-20 minutes, much less time than continuing to look will take.
Terry

[swebster]

Edie,
Thanks for the advice - you are absolutely right. Once when going back to the car from Circuit City I could not find my keys. My son and I went back into the store and looked at everything we looked at before. Found them sitting on a shelf next to the game controllers we were looking at. I picked one up ealier to show my son and put down my keys. I'll keep looking....

Terry - thanks! That is what I was looking for. I know where both my cordless drill and my 1/8" drill bit are located!

[robandzoe]

I am pushing my beeper on my keys...can you hear anything...lol. Hope you find them.

Rob

[swebster]

That's not funny!

Be careful Rob, with the amount of keys you must have collected by now I would be careful if I were you; some of those vintage trailers might hear you mocking me and my mere teenaged MH and loose their keys just to keep you in line!

[robandzoe]

Steve,


I hear ya!. Yes, just the keys on my 85 Airstream key chain scare me. I think I'm going to get those beepers myself. A good idea, as long as you don't lose the beeper thingy!

Rob

Originally Posted by swebster

That's not funny!

Be careful Rob, with the amount of keys you must have collected by now I would be careful if I were you; some of those vintage trailers might hear you mocking me and my mere teenaged MH and loose their keys just to keep you in line!

[Tinsel Loaf]

You realize that once you replace the ignition you will find the key, don't you!

[Stefrobrts]

Just so you know these stories do occasionally help other people, I have heard the one about getting a kid to crawl in through an access hatch before. This summer someone emailed me to say they had just bought a beautiful Caravel just like mine, but they had no door keys and the door had gotten locked. So I instructed them on how to insert a small child (aren't they handy?) through the battery compartment door, and lickety split they wrote back to say they were in!

Just so you don't feel bad, my husband is one of those who leaves his keys in strange places. I occasionally find them out in the back shed, or on a shelf in the garage, or on a box in the warehouse. I can't tell you how many times I've retreived them from some strange place! We don't go anywhere without an extra set of keys.

Good luck with the ignition switch, I have found those to be a real PITA to replace, even if you do have the key. Drill away, and good luck.

[85MH325]

Steven... STOP!

Call a locksmith. He can make you a new key in short order. Don't ask me how they do it, but he can do it for you. It'll cost you the service call and a couple of bucks for the key, but you won't have to drill out your keyway. AND when you find your keys, they'll still work.

Roger

[swebster]

Ooops! Too late Roger! Already have a big ugly hole in the ignition cylinder. This is definately a PITA. Ran down the battery on my cordless in short order. Still won't come out. Looks like it'll take a lot of drilling.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by swebster

Ooops! Too late Roger! Already have a big ugly hole in the ignition cylinder. This is definately a PITA. Ran down the battery on my cordless in short order. Still won't come out. Looks like it'll take a lot of drilling.

A locksmith will cost $50+ to come out and cut a key for you, and he may not be able to, anyway. It isn't that hard to cut, but... I am friends with Murphy, and it is never easy. Your lock cylinder cost around $10 or so, and came with 2 keys for you to lose, so even though it is taking a while, you are still doing okay money-wise. That is why I didn't suggest a locksmith to begin with. Once you finally do get the lock to turn, move it to the "on" position, and push a paper clip into the little hole with the pin in it on the lock, the cylinder will slide out, and you can slide the new one in. Piece of cake.
Terry

[steelbird312]

Unless something has changed, Airstream archives your build sheet, on which the key number is noted. They should be able to provide you the info with only a phone call, and GM dealer can cut a key using the number. Course, I guess that's a moot point with the big ugly hole and the run down battery.
jerry

[Stefrobrts]

Definitly don't try to just yank it out, because I don't think the new cylinder would fit in then. You might actually damage something.

[85MH325]

Sorry Steven... I tried... good luck!

Roger

[swebster]

Sorry Steven... I tried... good luck!

I'm impatient....what can I say I needed to take action (out of desperation). Plus; $5.99 vs $50 seems logical. Still have a big hole and not out yet. I'll work on it again tonight.