Changing an Ignition switch
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Changing an Ignition switch How hard is it to swap out a whole ignition switch? I lost the keys to my 1995 Firebird which has been sitting behind my house for two years. It's just a 3.4L V6 car that has been hit in the front. I finally bought a complete front clip but now I can't find the damn keys. I went to the dealership and bought a new ignition switch and a blank key, they said once I install the switch that the key will learn the Vats code. Anyway, how does the factory switch come out of the steering column? Do I have to take the whole column apart and use some sort of puller? Any help or directive would be appreciated, thanks!
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Tried that, they cut me three keys but none would turn the tumblers. All we can figure is whoever owned this car before me must have changed the switch. It's a headache.
well, i changed lock cylinders in cars with no air bag, those are not that tough, once you remove the air bag, remove the smap ring in front of the nut, remove the nut, install the puller with two long bolts, torque the puller down on the nut shaft and that will pull the wheel off but not entierly, remove the puller put the nut back on a few threads (this is important) and pull off the wheel, the reason you put the nut back on a few threads is bacause when you go to pull the wheel off that last little bit and it sticks, so if your tugging on it and it just breaks free the nut will stop it from hitting your face and breaking you nose, i know sounds stupid but im sure it happens if thats how i was taught to do it, once you remove the wheel, you should see the turn signal cancle cam, its usually white plastic and will be spring loaded up agenst a snap ring in a grove on the steering shaft. Pull the directional lever out of the cam if its that style and use the puller to compress the turn signal cam and use a pick (or two if needed) to remove the snap ring and take the puller off, now you can take out the cam and you should see a small bolt (maybe 7 or 8mm) holding in the lock cylinder, take that out and the cylinder should slide right out.
I havent done one in a long time and it was in cars pre airbag, hopefully you can find a diagram on-line or look in a chillton or maybe someone else with more experiance than I have will reply to this post.
Good luck with it
I havent done one in a long time and it was in cars pre airbag, hopefully you can find a diagram on-line or look in a chillton or maybe someone else with more experiance than I have will reply to this post.
Good luck with it
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Thanks alot, that should give me an idea of what to expect. I wonder though, with the car having an airbag, there must be a way of dis-abling it to prevent it going off in my face while fooling around with getting the switch out. I'll search around some more, thanks again for the help!
