Vehicle keys - making duplicates

[PILOON]

I have fond memories of having to find a hill to park on so I could start the car... God help you if you stalled the car on flat ground!

Brings back memories.
Years ago driving from Toronto to Montreal in wee morning hours my exhaust pipe melted away just past the manifold flange.
I doused the small fire but the wire loom had melted so no starter.

(This was on a nice PV544 Volvo on which I had the dealer do a tune up just mere days B4.) Previous elderly gent never drove on highway, only short local hops.
While near vintage that Volvo was in collectable condition.

I bridged the exhaust gap with a tin can that I retrieved from the ditch and proceeded to 'self bum start' the car.
You have to run like h--l, jump in, clutch and shift.
I was successful and continued on my way very noisily.

Dealer did time the engine OK only on vacuum but never tried the mechanical advance mechanism which I turned out was frozen in wrong position.
When I reported back to them they totally denied the possibility saying I was stupid.
Also told me never to come back. (good PR)
Funny, once cleaned up it worked fine.

Insurance claim was another battle, but I persisted and won.

Since I was barred from the dealership I had to sell that car.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I just got a new Nisan Titan Loaner truck. The employee of Enterprise handed me a keyfob and I went outside and looked for a place on the FOB for a button so the key would jump out. I went back in and asked the guy, what am I supposed to do with this?

Curious, how I will find that push start feature. Seems like an easy way to misplace your fob. What happens if you throw the thing out the window while driving? Is there no longer a steering wheel and tranny quandrant lock?

 

[Bird]

Aaah yes. Brings back old memories; not necessarily good memories; just old ones.:laughing: My first car was a 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline 2 door sedan with just under 100k miles on it when my Dad bought it for me for $75 in 1956. Not long after that, Dad bought a Texaco service station in Marietta, OK. For those who didn't know it, in those days, the State of Oklahoma didn't require annual vehicle inspections. But the Highway Patrol officers might set up on almost any road, stop all the vehicles, inspect lights, windshield wipers, etc., issue citations if you failed inspection, OR if you passed, they gave you a sticker for the RIGHT lower corner of your windshield. That sticker meant that if you came to another of their roadblocks during that year, they'd just wave you on through instead of inspecting your car again.

So one day I noticed the two Highway Patrolmen doing vehicle inspections on west bound traffic just a city block or so east of our service station. Naturally, I wanted one of those windshield stickers, so I ran outside, inspected my old Chevy myself, then drove a block south, a couple of blocks east, and came up onto the highway a couple of blocks east of the roadblock, and turned to go through the inspection. And just as I made that turn, the exhaust pipe fell loose from the manifold. I made a quick turn, avoided the roadblock, and slowly and carefully made my way back to the service station; came very close to getting a traffic ticket.:laughing:

 

[aczlan]

Curious, how I will find that push start feature. Seems like an easy way to misplace your fob. What happens if you throw the thing out the window while driving? Is there no longer a steering wheel and tranny quandrant lock?

IIRC, if you threw it out the window, it would run fine until you turned it off.
As for the steering wheel and shifter locks, they have been run by the ECU for a while, so its no real difference IMO.

Aaron Z

 

[disney]

One thing I do not think anyone has considered; chipped keys lower your insurance. If you own a car 'x' years, and you save 'y' per year, if x*y is less than the cost of a replacement key; You win. (if you buy a used car, and it only came with one key, then to me the cost you paid for the car just went up that much)

Now please don't try to say insurance was lower on your 1950 pickup vs your wife's brand new Caddy; of course it is. That's comparing grapes to water melons.

Oh, and years ago, before ace sold chipped keys, I ordered one online, and they were willing to cut it, but they cut it wrong (like in half, when it flew out of machine), and all they said was we won't charge you, but you're on your own for the key you ordered.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The steering and quadrant lock are controlled by the European Conomic Union? WOW, I had no idea Globalization had progressed so far!

I guess the shifter is probably just for show and really just an electrical switch. I looked to see if it was an 8 or 6. Can't tell. Just lots of plastic! I'm guessing a 6. It's fast enough but not any kind of speed demon. Yes, and much of the engine is inaccessible. I think they stopped caring about repair procedures and costs a long time ago.

 

[Dftodd]

The steering and quadrant lock are controlled by the European Conomic Union? WOW, I had no idea Globalization had progressed so far!

I guess the shifter is probably just for show and really just an electrical switch. I looked to see if it was an 8 or 6. Can't tell. Just lots of plastic! I'm guessing a 6. It's fast enough but not any kind of speed demon. Yes, and much of the engine is inaccessible. I think they stopped caring about repair procedures and costs a long time ago.

Dodge pickups have gone to a twist knob for the transmission and push button 4wd. The twist knob really screws with me Wasn't paying attention this morning and was trying to shift the truck into gear with the fan control for the heater

Has a key fob instead of regular key. Still starts the same as with a key though. I've almost lost the fob several times now.