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Ignition lock cylinder, replacing it and how does it work?
Hi all, I just rekeyed my new ignition lock cylinder. Moved the old pins and springs into a new one. Symptoms were the clock resetting, sporadic no accessory power when turned, and sporadic no starts. Replacing with a new cylinder fixed this and it actually starts like a brand new vehicle now (immediately as opposed to a second later, starter sounds more powerful).
So, I've included some cool pics and this is actually pretty easy to do. Between removal, rekeying, and reinstallation, this is a 30 minute job on my vehicle. Tweezers are highly recommended but otherwise, no special tools are needed.
My question, is what is inside the cylinder that works with the ignition switch to make things go and what is failing when the problems start? I see some copper that looks like it might make some sort of electrical connection when turned but otherwise, this thing doesn't have anything obvious to tell me what it's doing
Old one, nothing removed
Moving the old pins into the new one
Pin and springs moved, just need to install the cover
My question, is what is inside the cylinder that works with the ignition switch to make things go and what is failing when the problems start?
Not a thing. Aside from a pellet resistor for the VATS system (if you have one), there's nothing electrical there. (It's mechanical.)
The cylinder turns a cam, which engages a system of linkages, which actuate the actual "ignition switch", which is mounted further down the column. If your swap improved anything it would be because you fixed some sort of mechanical problem in the system.
I did know about the linkage inside the steering column for the ignition switch, but there's this wire and a small wire closer to the end of the cylinder. Are they the accessory wires?
EDIT: thank you for your reply!
Last edited by coryforsenate; Mar 5, 2018 at 03:59 PM.
It's a '96 Chevy C1500 truck. A little out of place here in maintenance. I'm normally in the transmission section talking about the 4l60e. but I figured these pictures might be helpful to somebody replacing their cylinder, since the process is the same for any vehicle with an ignition lock cylinder and since GM has a lot of part overlap between vehicles I figured there'd be a reasonable chance somebody would be able to answer my question in the OP.
I did know about the linkage inside the steering column for the ignition switch, but there's this wire and a small wire closer to the end of the cylinder. Are they the accessory wires?
I assume so. On your truck, the cylinder fits inside that housing, which has the separate ignition and accessory switches all right there. So, in your situation, the work you did and replacing the cylinder may have contacted the accessory switches better, but the contact with the ignition switch is still mechanical.
In the F-Bodies, with the older style steering column, (your '96 actually has a "newer" column design) all ignition and accessory functions are controlled by linkages connected to remote switches.
The ignition switch in the GM trucks is slightly different. There's no linkage down to a switch on the column like the F-bodies, it's a big, bulky part that is in the column itself. It has a cam that the cylinder fits into that makes internal contacts depending on how much you turn it, like a rotary switch.
The connection you have circled isn't the ignition switch, I believe that's part of the Passlock system. It was an option on trucks, not all of them had it.
On the truck ignitions you can get some mechanical wear over time that causes the types of issues you were having. But sometimes the issues are actually in the housing that the cylinder installs into. This swap is pretty straight forward, but if your problems return I would look at the housing with the actual electrical ignition switching.
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Ignition lock cylinder, replacing it and how does it work? 
