How to Fix a Bent Cylinder in a Deadbolt Lock

A deadbolt lock with a bent cylinder renders the entire device useless. Fixing these locks when the cylinder is even slightly bent can be difficult if the lock is not removed from the door. Often a deadbolt with a bent cylinder will cause the lock to break further, due to the aggressive use of force trying to ram the deadbolt down the cylinder. This action works occasionally, but it can just as easily damage the lock beyond repair. While deadbolts are not expensive, the inconvenience of purchasing and installing a new lock more than makes up for the work of fixing one.

Flat-head screwdriver
Small container
Drill
Drill bits
Vise
Wood blocks
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Open the deadbolt lock. Slide the tip of a flat-head screwdriver under the bent section and bend it out, levering the screwdriver off the deadbolt if necessary. The screwdriver can also be levered by sticking another object, such as a hammer, underneath it to serve as the fulcrum. Stop this action if the screwdriver begins bending another part of the lock or pulling it from the door.
- 2
  Remove both sections of the deadbolt from the door and the frame, using a drill and drill bits. Set the attachment screws carefully aside in a container. Take the deadbolt sections to a workbench. Place the bent section of the cylinder on top of a wood block, securing it in place with a vise.
- 3
  Position the sliding bolt of the lock within the cylinder, pushing against the bent section of the cylinder. Set another wood block against the top end of the sliding bolt. Strike the top of the block forcefully but in a controlled fashion to force the bolt through the bent section of the cylinder.
- 4
  Remove the bolt after the first attempt. Replace the bolt with something of similar size but greater hardness if the bolt seems to be bending. Use an old drill bit of the same diameter, for example. If there are no problems with the bolt, replace it in the cylinder and keep hitting the block into the bolt and into the cylinder. Continue until the cylinder straightens out, but monitor the integrity of the bolt and the cylinder to make sure that nothing else is bending, breaking or giving out.
- 5
  Reattach the straightened cylinder and the sliding bolt to the door and frame, using the same screws in the same configuration.

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