Help How do I Fix my Broken Astra Key ?

Wondering how to fix your broken Astra key?

There’s good and bad news if you own a Vauxhall Astra J.

The bad news is, they’re the most common key we see that breaks.

The good news is, they’re one of the easiest to fix. Here’s our guide to fix your broken Astra key, saving yourself money.

Broken Key Checklist – What you’ll need

Both parts of the key! If your blade breaks away from the key body, keep it safe. We see lots of people who lose the blade, and that’s bad news.

A Spare Key? We believe that before you try and fix the old key, you should have a standby key to use. The reason is that hen things go wrong with key electronics, you end up stranded.

We have thousands of comments on our key repair YouTube channel, most of which are positive. However, occasionally, someone will complain that the car won’t start after they tried to fix their car key watching our video.

If you’re not confident, get a spare key before you try and fix your broken Astra key.

Broken Astra Key Video

Here’s the video, if you’d prefer to watch, instead of reading.

What you need to fix your broken Astra key

You need a repair case that you’ll swap the electronics into. We prefer the cases that have a screw that keeps both parts together, instead of glue.

We use them  for hundreds of happy customers in Lincoln and keep getting asked for them on-line. So we’ve added a link to our Amazon store above.

They come with two or three buttons.

Circlip pliers – These are amazing for opening up all broken car keys, and very good when opening your broken Astra key.

When you squeeze the handle, the jaws open and the force will split open the key.

Pin Removal punch

This is a luxury that will make swapping the blade over a bit easier.

If you don’t have a punch, get the key blade cut instead.

The problem is that many key cutting shops won’t do this if they haven’t supplied the key as well.

and lastly…

Pliers to squeeze the pin back into the new key after you swap the battery, or a small hammer to knock it in.

Patience

This is really important. You have to remember that you’re doing something you’ve never tried before. Whilst it’s fairly simple to do, you need to put some time aside so that your not in a rush to fix your broken Astra key. It’s a bit fiddly and shouldn’t be rushed.

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Broken Astra Key instructions

Before you break open the key case, you need the new key to turn the locks. Imagine breaking your old key open, only to find out you can’t turn the lock with the new key!

Why do I need to swap the blades over first?

Sometimes, the original Vauxhall blade from your broken Astra key is a slightly different shape and will not fit into the new case.

Or, it may need bit of filing to make it fit.

This happens sometimes. The problem is that the repair case is made in a factory across the other side of the world and it’s been designed to accept in the blade that is already fitted to it.

How to swap the Key blade over.

Using the pin removal tool, find somewhere to rest your old flip arrangement that holds the old key blade. There will be some hammering, so make sure it isn’t your best dining table, or wooden kitchen side! They may get damaged.

Knock out the pin from the new blade, and the pin from the old blade and swap over blades.

Remember, they may need a little filing, but don’t force the old blade into the case. If you do this,  you will break the new case.

Do NOT try and use the old blade and hinge in the new key case. It will not work. They’ve been made differently, as the photo shows, and the key will not flick out like it should.

How to Fix your broken Astra Key. Checklist

1    Clear a space, make some room and make a brew, get a beer or whatever is your fancy. We’d recommend turning the TV off so that you can concentrate.

2    Place your circlip pliers inside the gap in between both halves of the key. Give them a squeeze, the key will ‘crack’and both parts of the broken Astra key will be apart.

3    Pull both parts open enough, so that you can carefully remove the green electronics.

4    Put the electronics from the broken Astra key into the new case.

5    Take the blade and hinge assembly and insert the metal button. It will go it three ways, but only one is correct. When the button drops through and pokes out the other side, then you know it is correct.

6    Pop the spring into the button and then place the other end of the spring over the plastic spigot on the other half of the new case. You then need to wind it around in an anti-clockwise direction.

7    Don’t worry if it takes a few goes to fix your broken Astra key. This is fiddly and we do it all the time and it can still take a few goes. You’ll feel like you need an extra hand, so it may help if you have someone to help you.

8    Once you’ve managed to wind it round, close both halves of the case together.

You’ve almost fixed your key!

9    Make sure the blade flips out when you press the silver button. If it doesn’t you need to take it apart again and have another go. It may take a few goes, don’t worry, you can do it!

10    When you get it working, fix both halves together with the screw provided.

11     Pop a new battery in, or use the old one if it is still ok.

12    Replace the battery cover

That’s it! Try it out and check that it works

Well done, you did it.

Any questions? Just comment below and we’ll try and help.

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