I pulled into a gas station and managed to lock myself out of my car. It's a
91 Chevy Cavalier with 4 doors. I called a locksmith to come and help me out and he agreed to come for $75. In the meantime a police officer came and asked if there was a problem, and I said I was locked out. He got his slim jim, and managed to get my driver's side door open. As he was doing this the locksmith pulled up, and the locksmith said to me he didn't think the police officer would be able to do it. He did though, and rather quickly, and I thanked him, showed him my id and registration, and then paid the locksmith $75. They both left, and I went in and thanked the gas attendant for letting me use the phone.Then when I got to my car, and went to unlock my door with my keys, I noticed the door lock cylinder turned a total of 180 degrees. It used to turn just 90 degrees total (45 degrees in one direction to unlock, and 45 degrees in the other direction to lock). And now you cannot unlock/lock the door by turning the key. You have to go to the passenger side, and then reach in and manually unlock the driver's side lock.
So I am now out $75 and have a broken lock to show for it!
I am a car mechanic in training right now, so I would like to be able to fix this myself. I want to eventually specialize in everything automotive, from mechanical, electrical, auto body, glass, detailing, and locksmithing. So do you guys know what is wrong, and how I would go about fixing this? I am going to pull the panel of tomorrow to see what is going on (and yes, I have the special door panel removal tool). So I envision this as an opportunity for me to learn.
Also: questions:
1) Why do professional locksmiths always unlock the passenger side door in a lockout?2) Why did the locksmith want to know if I had four or two doors on the he phone when I called him?
3) I'm thinking of hiding either spare key under my car, and/or a slim jim or coat hanger there, to prevent this from happening in the future. Do you have any creative places to hide a key? I am thinking of in front of the radiator, along the side part. This way no one will see it, and you would have to reach up there and feel around to find it.Thanks for any hlep!
Stephanie