2017 Chevrolet Equinox
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2017 Chevrolet Equinox Remote Flip Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call from a guy over in Casa de Oro, La Mesa. He'd been fighting his 2017 Equinox ignition for a few weeks. Not a complete failure, just that grinding, catching feeling where the key goes in fine but takes real effort to turn. Some mornings it would hang for a few seconds before releasing. He figured the ignition cylinder was shot and already had a dealer appointment lined up.

He called me the night before just to check, said a coworker told him to at least get a second opinion.

When I got there and pulled the cylinder, the problem was worn internal wafers, not the cylinder itself. The wafers are what the key actually rides against when it turns, and they wear down over years of use. A cylinder that feels broken is often just a cylinder with tired wafers. I decoded the lock, replaced the worn wafers, and cut a fresh key blade matched to the repaired cylinder. Then I programmed the transponder and re-synced the remote, so everything came back as one working unit.

He watched the whole thing from about two feet away. When I handed him the key and he turned it the first time, smooth and quiet, he just said "oh, that's what it's supposed to feel like."

The dealer had quoted a full cylinder replacement plus new keys. He saved a good chunk going the repair route instead. More importantly, the parts that were actually worn got replaced, and the parts that were still good stayed in the car.

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