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I've been having some problems recently with the steering wheel not locking when I turn off the engine and with the key being able to be jiggled out of the lock cylinder when the engine is running.
Tonight the outside of the lock cylinder came loose from the steering column, and it appears one of the two wires came loose from the outside plastic cover. Engine is off, cylinder is in the run position, key is out, security light is flashing.
What's the quickest way to get the car reliably drivable again without having to buy parts tonight and then I can schedule repair of that disconnected wiring?
Last edited by JimMueller; 10-22-2017 at 10:28 AM.
Reason: typos
The only electrical wires in the cylinder should be for the VATS. If they are cut, then you may need to do a temporary VATS bypass to get going. I recall that there are some soft springs at the end of the cylinder, so if you see a bare "wire" it could be an unsprung spring part.
It sounds like something in the end of the cylinder has failed. The attachment that holds the cylinder together is back there and also the pin that holds the key captive when you turn it.
The car isn't going to be reliably driveable again until the cylinder is replaced. If you can't put the cylinder back in and drive it now, your best hope (before a permanent repair) may be to do a temporary VATS bypass, pull the cylinder out, and then operate the ignition with some sort of screw driver. (I'm not sure if this will actually work. It definitely won't be secure - anyone with a screw driver would be able to just take the car and go.)
I have this photo from last night. There are two wires inside that cover, and one of the metal ends has came loose from the cover, I'm not sure if it is broken or merely slid off it's matching connector. Either way, I'm not sure where to even attempt to reconnect it. There is a tall skinny spring inside that cover which is used for the button release to turn the key to the off position, and also a clear plastic piece which seems to fit between the cylinder and the cover.
I'm having a hard time reading the resistance off my pellet with my probe MM, so I thought about just buying all the possible resistors and performing the bypass under the dash. Having problems locating a store which sells resistors locally, much less on a Sunday.
At this point I'm planning to tow it to a shop tomorrow unless I can get hold of my normal tech to swing by my place and improvise until he can get the parts and get me on the schedule. Are ignition cylinders commonly available locally?
With some daylight I may have had success, but I won't know until the battery has an adequate charge. Each end of the two VAT leads has a U-shaped clip on the end that presses against each side of the pellet. That clip sits in formed plastic retainer, but it doesn't lock in place (or at least mine wouldn't). The clear plastic piece has a hole in it for the metal button rod to pass through.
With that spring over the button rod and the clips properly seated in the plastic, you need to press the clear plastic piece down over the rod, compressing the spring and snapping it into the black plastic retainers inside the black cover. One side of my clear plastic retainer clip was almost completely broken off, so for now I put a small dab of rtv on it to see if it'll get me by until the new cylinder arrives.
I've watched someone take off the steering wheel before, but I'd rather pay someone to do it. I don't feel I have the patience for it
Instead of the bypass, you could probably just put the key in the black part. I don't know if there's enough wiring left to read the pellet, or not.
So far, so good. Totally forgot about the repair when I hopped in the car this morning and didn't use any care inserting the key, and it acted as if nothing occurred. So the new cylinder comes with a blank key and I need to know what pellet value I have... but are there inexpensive options to getting the pellet key cut?
Those U-clips were a pain. I tried to spread them a little to help them grasp the plastic, but then they protruded too much into the key slot... causing the key to push them out when it was inserted. It was a perfect storm... small amount of service loop in the leads, parts small enough where I needed to hold them close to work, but it was blurry at that distance.
So far, so good. Totally forgot about the repair when I hopped in the car this morning and didn't use any care inserting the key, and it acted as if nothing occurred. So the new cylinder comes with a blank key and I need to know what pellet value I have... but are there inexpensive options to getting the pellet key cut?
Your cylinder must have come with a cut key to fit the correct pin layout, right? When you say "blank", do you mean the key wasn't a pellet key? If so, are you sure it's a pellet cylinder?
My preferred method to get the best, least expensive key is to purchase the proper pellet blank off of eBay. (There are threads on this site to help find the correct part number.) Dealers will sell them, too - but will charge more. I then take the blanks to a dealer who has a GM key punch and have them punch (not cut) the key. It produces a perfect key. (Sometimes they won't do this unless you buy the blank from them.)
If you don't want that level of ****-ness, any big locksmith should have the VATS keys in stock and be able to cut a descent copy.
My current cylinder came with a cut key that the installer used to get a GM-style key cut with the correct pellet. Since the current cylinder is damaged, I'm just going to replace it, and I'll need to get another GM-style key with the pellet again.
The dealer I used to go to wouldn't do any work with parts I brought in, they don't make enough profit that way. I'll check around, thanks!
10-21-2017, 07:13 PM
Blinking security light 
