I did ask this one on the Fabia section but didn't get many replies.

"Hi all,

A friend of mine owns a Fabia 1.4, no central locking. He was trying to get int he car the other day and now the drivers door locking barrel just spins, so by the looks the barrel is broken?

I own an Octy, so I don't know much about the Fabia. So how do I go about fixing this?"

we have decided to get a new mechanism for just £15 with 2 keys. So that part is basically sorted. what I want to know now is, can I put the old barrel into the new mechanism so my friend can still use his own key or would the barrel be to FUBAR'D

I had the same problem with both the locks on the wifes golf. Its usually one of the lock components broken inside. You can get lock rebuild kits on ebay for about £7 which includes all the bits to rebuild. Its a bit fiddly but makes lock good as new. Theres a few vids on youtube that show exactly how to do it. With your mate buying the new locks he could either swap the original barrel into the new lock or use the bits from the new lock to repair the original, either way will involve rebuilding a lock. Im pretty sure it wont be the barrel thats gone mate.

Just watched a video. How bloody fiddly!

Once you have done one its a bit easier with the 2nd mate. Might just take a while and fingers will be sore