Okay, so, my key is jammed somehow. I got to work, and couldn't turn the car off- the key was stuck. I tried turning it forward- it would go into "crank" if I had let it - of course the motor was turning so I didn't turn it forward. I turned the steering wheel back and forth (the engine was running, so it was easy), and still couldn't turn the key backwards to turn the car off.

I backed the car out, and pulled into a parking spot where I could swing the door open. Again, I tried turning the key backwards to shut the car off- no good. I had to pull the fuel pump/ECM fuse from underneath the car to shut it off.

I checked the lock rod at the top of the steering column (took down the plastic pieces above my feet), it doesn't seem bent, and it twitches when I'd try turning the key.

I think the key cylinder itself is broken? A buddy at work told me something similar happened to him- and it wasn't the steering wheel lock, either. He said a locksmith came right out and switched the lock cylinder, and the car was fine again.

Meanwhile, my car is stuck at work. Is there a way to "push" that ignition rod down so I can start the car to get back home? I assume it's not as easy as connecting the two red wires together! Otherwise, I'll have to rig up some kind of remote starter switch, I guess. We have enough spare computer power cables at work so I could use one of those. I assume that if I put the fuel pump / ecm fuse back in, and get the starter to spin, the engine will start up.

This really SUCKS! Thanks for any/all help & suggestions; good thing it's Friday; if I can get the car home, I won't have to try to get a ride to work tomorrow.

Also- what other fuses should I pull? (The key is still "on".) I disconnected the gray connector from the ignition coil, so the module wouldn't overheat. I yanked the radio fuse so the radio clock wouldn't stay on. Did I miss any?

 

TomP: The same problem happened with my wife's Corsica.

An electric man said me: "Disconnect the positive battery terminal!!!!". (I used this car 1.5 weeks with this "special" start/off system until the repair).

2º The lock cylinder is completely disassemblied in the interior. You'll needs a new lock cylinder.

3º For install, you'll needs disassemble the horn, steering wheel and turn signal switch assembly (a big problem: finally i paid like US$ 60 to the GM dealer for this job).


Good luck

 

Am I missing something?

Based on what I think I read, you could reinstall the fuse, start the car and drive it home. After you get home you'll have to pull a fuse to shut it off.

Isn't it stuck in "On"?

It sounds to me like a lock smith might be worth the expense in this case.

 

99% true, copperhead- but I can't turn the key forward to get the engine to crank. The key is wedged in the "on" position!

Denis, thanks for the confirmation on the lock cylinder. I called the local dealer, and had them set one aside (their last one!!) for me. We've got the tools needed to pull the steering wheel and depress the lock plate; so it should be easy sailing to do it myself.

So can anyone tell me how to crank my engine so I can get outta here and get home?!?

 

I wish I couldn't tell you how they did it when they stole my car, but I can. Unfortunately, it involves breaking (or removing, actually) steering column covers and bending part of the mechanism inside.

 

For cranck you only needs connects two points (two nuts) at the starter's "pig" (the solenoid): The battery wire terminal with the red wire terminal from the key (both installed at the solenoid). Then a BIG spark will be displayed, the solenoid's pinnion will atack against the flywheel and the starter motor will run (all at the same time). Mmmm.. I Think it's all (if I remember O.K. that I did in 1981).

You must have caution with the spark, temperature, amper, volts, etc. in this process.


Denis V.

 

If it's a manual tranny, push it!
If it's an auto, you'll need to connect the big batt wire at the starter solenoid to the post for the small wire (without touching anything metal in the process). This will crank the eng normally.
Don't connect the two large posts together. That will make a big spark and spin the starter without engaging the flywheel.

Something else I just thought of, you might be able to crank eng by supplying power to the neutral safety switch. I **think** it is connected directly to the starter solenod. It would probably be easier to get to than the ign switch. You'll need some beefy wire(10-12 gauge) and a connection straight to battery.

Good luck with it..

 

IF IT IS AN AUTOMATIC

All you have to do is hook a wire long enough to reach from the battery to the starter on to the IGN (ignition) post. Lower the car, and touch it to the battery. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE OFF WIRE AFTER THE CAR STARTS. This will just be like turning the key. Make sure wire is strapped to something so it doesn't get in the belt or touch the wire, then go home.

PS The igniton wire from the key is purple, at least the stock wire is. It will be about an 18-14 gauge wire, and will be on one of the smaller post.

 

i had this problem with my car... then i noticed that something was stopping me from putting the tranny all the way in park. it felt like it was in park, and looked like it...and it didnt move at all... but it wasnt..... just something to think about, more than likely its more complicated than that... but its worth a check.

 

a screw driver would work fine.. if you cant get it directly across both posts on the starter you could use a pair of needle nose plyers with a rubber handle as to not shock yourself. all you need to do is just the 2 terminals and remove your tool.

 

is it in gear or park mabe your shifter is broken......

 

That's what I was thinking about.. I let a friend drive my car once; the letters next to the shifter that tell you what gear it's in could move around, so he thought he had it in park when he really had it in reverse, and he tried to force the key back. He partially succeeded and got the key jammed between off and on.

 

Thanks for the help, guys! I have a B&M Megashifter, which doesn't use the gear shift lock cable- I can turn my car off and take the keys out in any gear.

I wound up doing what I said I would in my first message; I wound up cutting up an old computer power cord, and using it to spin the starter directly. Bummer that there's no way to get to the ignition switch under the column directly. I'll have to look into the park/neutral switch for starting the car.

Never thought about the screwdriver idea; I wish I did; it would've saved me from whipping up a cable! The "clip" at the end is a set of "squeeze to open" tweezers from a computer tool set. I twisted all three wires in the computer power cable to make "one", looped one end around the tweezers, used the tweezers to clip onto the solenoid terminal, and touched the other end (above the car) to the alternator output terminal.

Then I hauled butt down to the dealer, and picked up the key lock. Got home, and swapped them out. It was fun getting a brand new key; almost like getting a new car! While I was in there, I also replaced the cancel cam and the cancel springs- my left blinker wasn't cancelling. Turns out it was just the left spring that was broken, but I replaced the cam anyway (and both springs, too).

What kind of grease did they use inside the column? I noticed there was grease on the cancel cam for the horn contact; but I didn't have any grease that was light-brown colored, so I just smeared some dielectric on the horn. Maybe the new cancel cam will fix my "intermittant horn when turning" problem.

Here's some pictures; eventually, I'll whip up a webpage about it.

First, the "Macguyver-style attack"-

 

Next, we got the pictures of the column. First pic is as I'm depressing the lock plate. Plus, I had to get a picture of the steering wheel on the floor!

 

Here's me yanking out the lock cylinder. The GM Service Manual didn't give quite all the details on pulling the turn signal switch out. First detail: The Hazard switch. It has a small phillips head screw in the middle of the button; you need to undo that screw from the outside- don't let the hazard switch's spring fly away! Then you can pull the blinker switch out- about a half inch. I needed to undo the big connector on the right side of the bottom of the steering column. It was stuck in a bracket on the column; I flexed the connector (it's a long one!) and pulled it out of the bracket. I disconnected it, and that gave me an extra inch or two on the wires so I could pull the blinker switch out of the column enough to get it out of the way.

The bolt holding the ignition switch in is an 8mm, by the way.

 

Last shot; the parts I yanked. I couldn't find the busted spring for the left turn signal cancel; I guess it's buried at the bottom of the column somewhere. The little green chip? That's from the "key in ignition buzzer"- I found it in the blinker switch. It's normally attached to the ignition switch- if you look closely (sorry for the bad scan) at the left side of the ignition switch, facing up, there's a small slot- that's where the green chip pops "up" from.

And that sideways slot in the ignition lock? That's where the screw goes to keep the lock in the column. It's an odd screw; 3 very coarse threads at the top; then the rest of the screw is smooth, no threads.

Want part #s? Of course you do.

Key switch- Black bezel (I could've gotten chrome! Did F-bodies come with chrome ignition locks?), coded w/key, #D1414B, "real" part number is 07840574. Cost was $33.

Cancel Cam- part #26029510, cost was $19.

Cancel cam springs- not sure of a part #, only one is listed for both springs, but the part # is #1964785, cost was $1.18 each. I assume he just typed the same part # twice to make his life easier; I heard him muttering two different numbers when he went back to the stockroom.

These are dealer prices, by the way. Diving into the column really wasn't that bad at all. If it wasn't pouring rain out (thank goodness for my dual halogen work lamp with waterproof switches!!!), I probably could've knocked the job off in an hour or so. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to do; most of that was fighting the lock ring and the turn signal switch. It probably helped, too, that my dad had already bought the tools a long time ago.

Before I end- I don't think it's necessary to have a "real" steering wheel puller. My dad had one, and I used it, but- out of curiosity, I grabbed my universal ducksfoot puller, and I was able to bolt it up to the steering wheel. I paid $14 for that universal puller; I bet dad paid more for this "special" steering wheel puller tool. 2 more things; DON'T hammer on the center of the puller as is commonly done; the steering column is impact-absorbing (for accidents), and hitting the shaft with a column could screw up the column's absorption. Second, the steering wheel center nut is a 21 mm. Good thing I had one already, or I would've been really ticked off!

What else... hm... oh yeah- the lock ring is a btch to get off. It's not a snap ring, like I thought. It's just a hard, thin wire, and the open end butts together. I couldn't get a grip on the damned thing. I wound up using my set of picks to dig it out of it's groove, and I had to use the picks again to get the stupid thing on there. For the steering wheel snap ring, I just used my needle nose pliers to spread apart the open end... I spread the handles apart, which stretched the ring open enough for me to slide it off the steering shaft- it's not a typical snap ring, either.

Thanks again for the help, guys!!

 

Your wire harness on the fire wall (the one that is in big loom) had a BIG purple wire in it....Pull it out to where you can get to it. Peel back coating (DO NOT CUT WIRE) to show the wire inside. Clip a gator clip to it and touch the other end off on the positive battery...VOILA!!!!! Car will crank. What I did (same thing happen to me) was peel back insulation and attach a little wire to it. Re insulated with wrap and wire nutted the free end of wire. If it happens again, all I gotta do is attach gator clip and touch it off....Just a thought...Waaaay better than jacking up car and touching off with Screwdriver!!!

Later

 

http://home.t-online.de/home/O_Scholz/steering.html

I don't recognize the steering wheel, but the column is the
same as used in GM (and some Chrysler) cars. I ran an extra
wire from the "S" terminal on my new starter in case I had to
crank the engine from under the hood. It does the same thing as 1fastformula suggested.

 

why bother going through all the trouble to find the wire and everything when you could simply open the hood and tap the connections with anything metal? seems like a waste of time... maybe this isnt possible on a stock 3rd gen? im not sure... never tried it.. works great on mine but i had headers when i did it..

 

hahaha you think you have a problem???

i go shopping last week in my parent's car... i took out the key completely, walked out started walkign toward the mall and i look and my carwas still on hahaha

i had to pull the sparkplugs out to stop the dam car :P

turned out to be a loose wire

 

(Yawn) As I said in my message above, it didn't occur to me.

 

Thread a dent puller into the ign cylinder, sit in the passenger seat, yank the whole thing out and use a screw driver. Hold on, this might not work since your keys still in there.

 

that would break the column up pretty bad..

 

Sure, but with the ECM/Fuel Pump power fuse removed, it should just crank and crank without starting. The fuel pump will eventually get power from the oil pressure switch, but a dead ECM won't fire injectors very well.

 

Yeah, but you can get almost any car in under a minute.