Car won't let me have my keys back!

[tweetdriver63]

I shut off the engine just now, then I got in a tug-o-war with the ignition switch. It won't let go of the key! The central cylinder (column lock) isn't popping out, and the key ain't goin' nowhere.

Any advice appreciated, as I don't much like having to leave my Lotus parked with the key still in the ignition everywhere I go.

I'm going to remove the shroud when I get home this evening to see if there's anything I can access, but somehow I doubt it.

[RayD]

Chris, its one of those jobs where the harder you try, the worse it gets ... the next time you try it will probably come out.

If not ... ask someone else to have a go, or try WD40 with a tube on the spray down the side of the key.


Ray

[tweetdriver63]

Sometimes I think I can fix anything if I try.

I had no experience to call upon for this one, so I just started taking things apart. I took the shroud off the steering column, then removed the steering wheel itself (didn't have to do that I guess). I couldn't figure out how to get the locking cylinder off, so I looked at the parts guide and the workshop manual, but still nothing. Then I went online and searched for "disassembling ignition switch," which lead me to this write-up. The locking cylinder looked very similar to the one in my Elan, and it's a GM car in the write-up, so I went to look for a little hole where I might insert a small drill bit or allen wrench. There is one on the front side (indicated by the red arrow in the picture below), so I stuck a small allen wrench in and oila! Out came the cylinder.

PA031095.JPG

Now I could see that it really did look a lot like the one in the write-up. I followed the instructions in the write-up to take it apart. Inside I found a spring-loaded part on the side of the cylinder that if I pressed on it from the outside is supposed to spring back (picture), but a burr had worn in the cylinder that caused it to bind and not spring back. I guessed that that might be the cause of my problem, so I took my Dremel tool and ground the burr off (which took all of about 2 seconds).

PA031093.JPG

When I put it back together, I accidentally destroyed a tiny spring, and that caused a new problem. I found a new spring by going to the local Autozone and looking at all the ignition locking cylinders they had in stock until I found one that looked sort of similar, and had the same little tab you see in the pictures with that write-up (also marked by the blue arrow in the picture below). It was the little spring that goes in the slot with the tab, beside the tab. As luck would have it, the one I bought at Autozone, which is a Saturn part, did have the right tiny spring in it, and I was able to get my ignition switch fixed and back in the car.

PA031097.JPG

[RichardK]

Brilliant, cleverest fix i've read in along time - also something that could strike me at anytime......

Welldone Chris!!

[niall]

Well done.
It would be helpful to know if yours is a high mileage car, or if your key is perhaps not an o/e one so that we know whether to expect this problem.
Thanks for the write-up anyway.

[tweetdriver63]

Well, my ignition keys don't say Lotus on them, but they appear original. My door/trunk(boot) keys are oem GM keys. I'm the third owner of my car, and it has 72K miles on it right now. I'm sure the ignition lock cylinder is original.

I'm proud of myself for two repairs, but mad at myself for making the second repair necessary. Just to clarify, the spring I had to replace by buying a similar cylinder and hoping it had the same spring in it, wasn't the reason my car wouldn't give me my keys back. That was caused by the burr making that bit bind on the inside of the cylinder. I accidentally messed up the little spring myself when putting the thing back together. I am, however, pretty proud of myself for being able to quickly find a fix for that. Of course, that cost me $20. If I hadn't messed up the spring, the original problem wouldn't have cost me anything but some time to fix.

[GeoffSmith]

Nice one Chris. I've captured it on the Wiki.