1996 cougar XR7, key lost. 1500 miles away.

O

OilBurner2003

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NUNYA.
Vehicle Details
1996 cougar XR7, 4.6 v8
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Well well well. Man, what a month. So.

I didn’t drive the cougar. My vehicle that I was going to use to tow failed, forcing me to leave the cougar at a friends.

I was gonna come back next week and drive it up, low and behold..My key and spare was lost somehow. During my move! I was gonna have the tow company tow it, but they can’t move it without the key.

So, the cars locked. There’s no key in it. And I can’t find a lock smith to make me a key, and unlock the door.

I’m 1500 miles away. Will a ford dealer have someone come rekey the car? That seems to be the only option I can think of.
 
Don't bother with a dealer, they'll overcharge and are unnecessary since our cars are old school without chip keys, I'd find a locksmith.
 
Where is the Cougar located? Do you have an alarm? Key fob? Do you have AAA?

As XR7 4.6 wrote, your best bet is a local locksmith. I bet a local wrecker driver could point you in the right direction. Worth a call.
 
Green T said:
Where is the Cougar located? Do you have an alarm? Key fob? Do you have AAA?

As XR7 4.6 wrote, your best bet is a local locksmith. I bet a local wrecker driver could point you in the right direction. Worth a call.
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Apartment complex. No alarm, no key fob, AAA, yeah.

I’ve called 10 different lock smiths, and they all say they can’t do “That model” even though there’s no alarm system or fob of any means.
 
Ford won’t even be able to do it for a 96. A 97 they could cut a key from the VIN, but they weren’t keeping track of that in 96. Any competent locksmith should be able to cut you a new key at the car, but apparently none of the ones you called want to be bothered. The only way I see to do it is either find a locksmith who will do it, or go back to the car yourself, get into the car, then either remove a door lock cylinder or pick the lock on the ignition to pull that cylinder, and then you can take that cylinder apart and the pins will have numbers so you can get a key cut based on that code.
 
The tow guy can get in through the door with an inflatable wedge, and they can either tow it backwards or dolly the back wheels. Deal with the key later.
 
I'm a locksmith and I can tell you we absolutly do them its either a 10 cut or 8 cut depending on the year if its 89-95/ and some 96's its a 10 cut if its late 96 or 97 its an 8 cut. where is it located and I'll see what I can do to help you find someone being that I completely understand the process in making a key
 
MadMikeyL said:
Ford won’t even be able to do it for a 96. A 97 they could cut a key from the VIN, but they weren’t keeping track of that in 96. Any competent locksmith should be able to cut you a new key at the car, but apparently none of the ones you called want to be bothered. The only way I see to do it is either find a locksmith who will do it, or go back to the car yourself, get into the car, then either remove a door lock cylinder or pick the lock on the ignition to pull that cylinder, and then you can take that cylinder apart and the pins will have numbers so you can get a key cut based on that code.
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ford wont cut a key by vin they only keep 7 years of key codes
 
I know its a left field question but its worked before do you have a picture of the keys? I've been able to decode the cuts by picture in the past so if you have a picture I can decode that and mail you a key
 
97teebs said:
I know its a left field question but its worked before do you have a picture of the keys? I've been able to decode the cuts by picture in the past so if you have a picture I can decode that and mail you a key
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I’ll look and see if I have a picture, I doubt though.
 
OilBurner2003 said:
I’ve called 10 different lock smiths, and they all say they can’t do “That model” even though there’s no alarm system or fob of any means.
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Did you tell them that? I can only imagine they're under the impression the Tbird has something more complex than they think it has, but its a conventional lock and key, any locksmith can do it


Hopefully you do find someone, remember to have them make you a trunk lock key too, since they were still separate in 96
 
Anyone ever used one of these jiggler keys with success? I see them at my local Harbor Freight but I could not find them on their website so I am not sure they carry them everywhere.

Here they are at WalMart

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Did you tell them that? I can only imagine they're under the impression the Tbird has something more complex than they think it has, but its a conventional lock and key, any locksmith can do it


Hopefully you do find someone, remember to have them make you a trunk lock key too, since they were still separate in 96
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Yep, everyone I’ve called except for the one this morning still said they couldn’t do it.
 
Hello, I have in the past , dropped the column and take it to a locksmith to have it rekeyed . You can also steer the vehicle to load it by manually moving the wheels . Works in a pinch
 
So the issue that we see is that "younger" locksmiths have 0 clue how the 10 cut system works you retrieve spaces 1-6 in the door and the ignition has 5-10 so both the door and ignition have spaces 5 and 6 but the first 4 spaces are not in the ignition and likewise the last 4 are not in the ignition so thr way it's done is once you know what the cuts for 5 and 6 are that leads you towards the answer for 7 8 9 and 10. So pulling the column and taking it in will only result in a key that will never work the door. The ignition works on a side bar system meaning that picking it to turn it and depress the active retainer is highly unlikely. Also op says doors are locked so he can't currently pull the column. Although having it unlocked wouldn't be a big deal.
 
I can check to see if I still have a set of keys and trunk & ignition cylinders from my parts car. I didn't get the door cylinders, but maybe they could be matched to the keys?
 
Zep5.0 said:
I can check to see if I still have a set of keys and trunk & ignition cylinders from my parts car. I didn't get the door cylinders, but maybe they could be matched to the keys?
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I heard somewhere that I should try that exact same thing.
 
Couple of years ago I lost a set of keys to a 2008 VW and was locked out of the car. . I called the locksmith and he had a small device. He got into that car door in what seemed like 30 seconds tops. So hard to believe getting into and starting a 97 Tbird would be a big deal. But I'm not a locksmith. What Teebs says makes sense.
 
supergordo said:
Couple of years ago I lost a set of keys to a 2008 VW and was locked out of the car. . I called the locksmith and he had a small device. He got into that car door in what seemed like 30 seconds tops. So hard to believe getting into and starting a 97 Tbird would be a big deal. But I'm not a locksmith. What Teebs says makes sense.
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I think I finally got ahold of someone who can make the key. Will let you All know how it goes!
 
That small device is most likely called a lishi and you got to have one for every key way not just a universal tool
 
97teebs said:
That small device is most likely called a lishi and you got to have one for every key way not just a universal tool
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I've got about 150 of those and they work very well but you still have to understand basic locksmithing
 
97teebs said:
I've got about 150 of those and they work very well but you still have to understand basic locksmithing
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I figured you would need to know how to use it. But it was pretty cool to me!
 
It is a neat process certainly made key origination alot eadier/faster. Those tools also decode the lock
 
We usually try everyone's ford keys; usually you can find one that will work.
When I had a key made for the red cougar after I bought it, the locksmith took a box of keys out to the car, and tried different keys until he found it.
 
15 years ago my dad was (briefly) driving an 88 El Dorado for which the original key was horribly worn. It took a lot of jiggling to get the lock cylinder to rotate out of the locked position so the car could be started. He paid a local locksmith $60 to come out and look at it; about 3 minutes later he had cut a new key. It was fascinating to watch.
 
theterminator93 said:
15 years ago my dad was (briefly) driving an 88 El Dorado for which the original key was horribly worn. It took a lot of jiggling to get the lock cylinder to rotate out of the locked position so the car could be started. He paid a local locksmith $60 to come out and look at it; about 3 minutes later he had cut a new key. It was fascinating to watch.
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Usually with old GM products you can turn the lock cylinder without a key :rofl:
 
That's how it was with their junky 80s Hyundai hatchbacks! My dad pulled the key out of the ignition once while we were going down the interstate. :leftright:
 
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