Duckboy4
New Member
I am a 30 year locksmith in Central Illinois.
I was responding to another thread and explaining this to another member. I thought it deserved its own tech thread, as locks and keys are often beyond the interest/technical abilities of the everyday mechanic.
Ford ignition locks from our era do not have key code numbers anywhere on them. Even if they did, you would first have to remove the ignition cylinder from the housing on the column in order to read it, or the door lock from the door (which is a real PITA). Ignition lock removal is easy if you have a key. Just turn it to "on" and depress the retainer pin under the column and pull the cylinder out. If you don't have a key, you're faced with a *much* more difficult task.
Mustangs from 1994-1996 were built under Ford's 10-cut key system (see image below of a keying diagram of a 10-cut vehicle). The tumblers in the doors pertain to positions 1-6 on the key, and the tumblers in the ignition pertain to positions 5-10 (with only 5 and 6 overlapping). They literally use different parts of the key. The trunk, in Mustang's case, is just another door lock, since the back seats fold all the way down. In short, extrapolating key cuts from a door lock will only get you 2/6 of the ignition key. Attempting to guess the remaining four positions would be nearly mathematically impossible. This is where locksmith tools come in to play.
Mustangs from 1997-2014 were equipped with Ford's 8-cut key system (see chart below). The graphic shows two possibilities of what tumbler positions might be found where, but inside the 8 cut system, this tended to migrate over the years. Below is the most common setup. As you can see from the 8 cut system, if you had the door cuts, it would be much easier to go through the mathematical guesses in order to obtain a working ignition key.
Why Ford switched to the 8 cut system is beyond me. I found the 10 cut system to be VERY reliable and not prone to failure/corrosion. The ignition locks did tend to get worn out and were subsequently easy to steal. That's just one of the reasons why Ford added the PATS1 immobilizer system in 1996 as an option for GTs and Cobras. So, next time you go to get that modern car key duplicated, and it costs you a couple hundred dollars, you can thank the Ford Mustang, as they were the first in the American industry to include a transponder in the key.
I'm happy to answer any lock/key related questions!
I was responding to another thread and explaining this to another member. I thought it deserved its own tech thread, as locks and keys are often beyond the interest/technical abilities of the everyday mechanic.
Ford ignition locks from our era do not have key code numbers anywhere on them. Even if they did, you would first have to remove the ignition cylinder from the housing on the column in order to read it, or the door lock from the door (which is a real PITA). Ignition lock removal is easy if you have a key. Just turn it to "on" and depress the retainer pin under the column and pull the cylinder out. If you don't have a key, you're faced with a *much* more difficult task.
Mustangs from 1994-1996 were built under Ford's 10-cut key system (see image below of a keying diagram of a 10-cut vehicle). The tumblers in the doors pertain to positions 1-6 on the key, and the tumblers in the ignition pertain to positions 5-10 (with only 5 and 6 overlapping). They literally use different parts of the key. The trunk, in Mustang's case, is just another door lock, since the back seats fold all the way down. In short, extrapolating key cuts from a door lock will only get you 2/6 of the ignition key. Attempting to guess the remaining four positions would be nearly mathematically impossible. This is where locksmith tools come in to play.
Mustangs from 1997-2014 were equipped with Ford's 8-cut key system (see chart below). The graphic shows two possibilities of what tumbler positions might be found where, but inside the 8 cut system, this tended to migrate over the years. Below is the most common setup. As you can see from the 8 cut system, if you had the door cuts, it would be much easier to go through the mathematical guesses in order to obtain a working ignition key.
Why Ford switched to the 8 cut system is beyond me. I found the 10 cut system to be VERY reliable and not prone to failure/corrosion. The ignition locks did tend to get worn out and were subsequently easy to steal. That's just one of the reasons why Ford added the PATS1 immobilizer system in 1996 as an option for GTs and Cobras. So, next time you go to get that modern car key duplicated, and it costs you a couple hundred dollars, you can thank the Ford Mustang, as they were the first in the American industry to include a transponder in the key.
I'm happy to answer any lock/key related questions!
