halp! ah busted mah key!

Boy that was a pain in the ass to type with autocorrect.

Anyhow here's the scene. The boy and I get ready for a day on the town. Class, Costco, you know- that grocery life. Everything is grand. Go to load him after pre school, grab my keys out of my pocket and think I've lost my mind. Ms3 key, other Toyota key...no miyuki key? Dafuq? I drove this E36 M3 here, how.... So I start looking around. Is it busted off in the ignition, have space aliens abducted it....wtf? This is sort of a problem because the wife is at school and she had the other miyuki key. Reach into my pocket, and there it is.....with the key loop busted off. Piss. This is a bigger problem. A- I need it to stay on my keys. I will lose it otherwise. The only car that gets out of that is the mx6, but the cylinder is so worn I can start it with any key I want and most silverware. B- I need this particular one, because I will confuse it with my other Toyota key otherwise and it will ammoy me. C- its the OEM key and the car will roll 200k this weekend. I feel like its important.

So- I wemt to target and got me some loctite 5min epoxy. I've put cars together with this stuff. Sets in 5, usable in 20. Broken again as soon as were back in the car.

If I need to glue this together, how does Grm advise I do it? Fwiw- all the epoxy over dribble peeled off the key with my fingernail after nearly 12 hours of set.

Drill a new hole where the Toyota emblem is? That's more of a "ghetto life" fix, but would work.

Get a new key?

Take a paperclip and cut a 3-4mm stub. Heat cherry red and stab it into the right side chunk with a needle nose pliers. Let cool. Then repeat, this time stab the rig into the key. Let cool. One end is "fixed." Now on the side with less meat, take another stub, heat, and stab through the whole thing, trying to pierce the meatiest parts. You may need to repeat this as the paper clip will not retain much heat. Fill any gaps in the plastic with glue, preferably JB Weld.

Or spend $3.00 and get a new key.

New key. Should be cheap, I'm about as cheap as they some but don't spend an hour trying to fix something yiu can replace for a few bucks.

Or drill a hole, seen it a few times

I can fix that in about 10 seconds, 30 if there isn't already a 1/4" bit in my drill press.

The local stealership may be cheaper than you think.

I wanted an additional key cut for my old P71, and the local Ford shop hooked me up for five bucks and I just barely had time to finish my free coffee.

I'm going with new key. They are so cheap for that car that it would make sense not to worry about repairing the old one.

gorilla glue seems to work better for me than 5min epoxy

Like Bgjast said, 1/8" hole through the emblem and insert key ring. Remove and smooth the broken ears.

I am of the drill a new hole opinion. My wife's fit has a gawd awful huge spare key that was gifted to me when she bought the car. I mean it's a good 1/2 inch longer than any of my other keys, so I lopped off the top of the key, drilled a new hole and smoothed the edges. works great.

I took the extra key to my BMW bike and removed all the plastic, leaving only the functional part. It fits nicely in my wallet behind a credit card.

Beats calling AAA.

Gorilla glue will work if you can figure out a decent way to clamp it in place. If you can't clamp it, don't bother.

When I bought my Scion, it only came with one key. I took my title to the Toyota dealer, and they cut a fresh key from the VIN for under $10. That way, you get a virgin key, instead of a copy of a copy of a copy.

If $10 is too much for your budget, maybe you should get a cheaper car

Its not the budget, its the principle of the matter. I want THIS key. And I want to fix it. Car will turn 200k tonight. Gorilla glue it is.

Typical GRM thread..."How do I glue this back together?"

6 "get a new key" responses. 5 "drill a hole" responses. One response using a hot paperclip which actually answered the question, and 2 "use gorilla glue" answers which also answer the question. I like these types of answers because you may end up finding a better solution than the one you were thinking of originally. I know sometimes folks get a little put out when people answer their questions by coming up with something other than asked, but I think they should just learn to take the suggestions for what they are worth and use them or not.

Good luck on the Gorilla Glue, but I think I would go to the dealer, get a new key, then drill a new hole in it by using a hot paperclip, then I would carry it in my wallet.

914Driver wrote: I took the extra key to my BMW bike and removed all the plastic, leaving only the functional part. It fits nicely in my wallet behind a credit card. Beats calling AAA.

Do you get locked out of it often?

T.J. wrote: Typical GRM thread..."How do I glue this back together?" 6 "get a new key" responses. 5 "drill a hole" responses. One response using a hot paperclip which actually answered the question, and 2 "use gorilla glue" answers which also answer the question. I like these types of answers because you may end up finding a better solution than the one you were thinking of originally. I know sometimes folks get a little put out when people answer their questions by coming up with something other than asked, but I think they should just learn to take the suggestions for what they are worth and use them or not. Good luck on the Gorilla Glue, but I think I would go to the dealer, get a new key, then drill a new hole in it by using a hot paperclip, then I would carry it in my wallet.

I'm surprised there wasn't at least one suggestion to swap it with an ls1. I know why people say get a new one- its dirt cheap. But I'm a sentimental weirdo and I want the original key. I still have what's left of the mx6 keys... I could start that thing with a fork. I wanna fix this one dammit.

You could try qbond or similar. Its like a really strong super glue that comes with a Filler powder. I've used it to repair timing covers and headlights and tones of other auto plastics, holds up very well.

Otherwise plastic weld the broken section back in. You can try and diy plastic weld it or find someone who does bumper repair and they'd provably do it for a fiver.

The paper clip dowl ideais a good one if you want to diy plastic weld.

If its all to time consuming and costly then just found off the top where the tabs are and maybe drill in the top corner and slightly countersink it each side for a vaguely factory look

Thanks for this because I've got a key to my Corolla that is busted on one side and I had a new key made because I couldn't figure out how to fix it. BTW gorilla glue in my experience is not a good plan. I have used it and it's strong as steel for a few months then fails without warning.

You need a glue that's strong in tension and in sheer. Good luck on that. That's why I suggested to pin in on.

Wally wrote:

914Driver wrote: I took the extra key to my BMW bike and removed all the plastic, leaving only the functional part. It fits nicely in my wallet behind a credit card. Beats calling AAA.

Do you get locked out of it often?

Never. But I don't want to be 100 miles from home and find out the keys are at the bottom of the skinny dipping hole.

914Driver wrote:

Wally wrote:

914Driver wrote: I took the extra key to my BMW bike and removed all the plastic, leaving only the functional part. It fits nicely in my wallet behind a credit card. Beats calling AAA.

Do you get locked out of it often?

Never. But I don't want to be 100 miles from home and find out the keys are at the bottom of the skinny dipping hole.

If your keys are at the bottom of the Skinny-dipping hole.. you are doing it wrong

If I were forced to do something complicated I'd Dremel those two horns off, drill two small holes about 3/4 inch apart then connect the holes with a Dremel to replicate the long, slotted hole that used to be there.

But I'd never do that. I'd have a new key in about an hour. And have more time to spend with my son.

Lay the key on a piece of glass and encase it in epoxy. Remove excess with xacto knife?