ignition key trouble

fiatmonkey

fiatmonkey

Tim Hoover
Hi folks,

I am baffled by what I hope is a simple and fixable issue. I noticed a few weeks ago my key when in the ignition would not turn very well slowly it became harder and harder to turn the key till finally it locked up and became stuck in the ignition. I didn't want to risk breaking the key so I left it until I dug up another spare ignition and column which I had burried away.

I installed the new ignition column (spindle and all) and all was right with the world again. The only thing I noticed was that my steering wheel wouldn't lock.

So today I am moving the car and whamo - my second key/ignition combo was now slowly seizing up till finally it froze as well.

What am I doing wrong? I must have something miss-aligned but I don't know what.

Feedback REALLY needed :)
 
Well,

I played around with it some more and after re-installing the steering wheel shaft I was able to make it work and the wheel will now lock. So something was miss-aligned. I need to read up and see what I was doing wrong.

-T.
 
It's one of those things...

... where I could have said something's not right but you knew that already.

The wheel lock tab also makes it hard to turn the key if the wheel is hard against the lock tab. Often you have to turn the wheel slightly to relieve the pressure on the tab or lock so the key will turn. So I think you've discovered the trouble somehow.

Also important when installing the wheel is getting the turn signal cancel tab in the correct spot. You'll know if it is because the turn signal cancel will work in either direction. If it doesn't you have to try again. Hard to explain how it works...

Good luck!
 
Spoke to soon...

The key and ignition assemply just completley froze up again and this time I was not able to un-freeze it. The behavior is really weird. It doesnt all of sudden freeze up. It will gradually get hard and hard to turn the key until it just wont move hardly at all. I was barely able to move the key back to the full off position and pull it out.

This is the second steering wheel assembly in less than a month that has frozen up on me. I don't know what is going on.

-T.
 
I don't know either Tim... but its either...

... a Virus or Voodoo... and the only other V word would be Volvo!

Very strange... I simply have no idea... but you have my sympathy. Hopefully someone will chime in with an idea.
 
Thanks Tony - You mentioned Volvo - I sure hope Hussein heard your "call" and has some advice :(

The only common factor is same wheel and of course same car. I never removed the ignition switches, just swapped column, switch complete.

I am using an after market wheel/hub. Could it be you think I am somehow putting too much stress on the shaft? I will compare the old wheel fitting to the new one and see if one shows more threads when installed.

Did I mention this IS my daily driver?

-T.
 
So - I didn't want to pull out my 75's ignition as I am starting to get that car's mechanicals together this week while I am off. So I decided to pull off the ignition from the column itself. BTW - I don't know how anyone else gets the ignition off since the break-away screws have no head to screw off, I usually use my small circular grinder/cutter and put a slot threw the top then back it out with a heavy screw driver.

Well one thing led to another and I pulled the whole thing apart. Good news I found out the issue was simply the key port was bad and I figured out how the whole thing works (key stuff). Bad news I can't fix it.

a pic of the shaft for the key you can see the grooves from the broken pivot keys:

Image010.jpg
 
I can sympathize with your problems since I had to remove my switch because I lost my one-and-only key early in the spring. I got the switch off by sliding a reinforced cutoff wheel mounted to my moto-tool in the crack between the two parts of the switch and cutting those damn bolts in two. I tried to slot the heads of the bolts like you described and failed miserably. I highly recommend an original equipment Yugo switch available from Midwest-Bayless. Needless to say, I didn't use the supplied tamper-proof bolts that came with the new one. :D
 
Well,

I had lost several of the little dowels when I opened this thing up so I just threw it back together with no dowels. Good news it works :) bad news of course any basic Fiat cut key will fit and start it. Its a short term fix.

I will be ordering the replacement from Matt soon :)
 
Glad you figured it out...

...I wouldn't have been any help on this one.

No way to use parts of the tumbler from your first one?
 
lookforjoe said:
...I wouldn't have been any help on this one.

No way to use parts of the tumbler from your first one?
Click to expand...

You know I was thinking of doing that but I can't find the key for the first one. If I find it, I will just take that one apart and try and fix it now that I know what to expect.

Not in a rush for now since I made the "universal key" ignition system mod ;)
 
when you install the new one...

don't torque off the assembly bolts, can still get it tight enough and the covers will fit back on the column.
 
Just replaced the ignition switch this afternoon. One bolt came out easy with an easy-out, but I had to drill the other bolt out.
Made sure I didn't over torque the new bolts. The cover didn't fit around the key area first time and had to loosen off the bolts and move the ignition housing a bit. All good now.
 
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