Steering lock key cylinder

DWMBMW

DWMBMW

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Anyone have one?

The pins and springs somehow slipped out and jammed my key and steering wheel stuck in the locked position when trying to leave a car show last weekend. I could start the car with a screwdriver but couldn’t steer so had to get towed home.


IMG_0132.jpeg
 
You might want to put this in the "Parts for sale and wanted" forum. Also, a good idea to put "wanted to buy" or "WTB" in the title so that viewers don't assume you are selling one and skip your listing.
 
I had a similar issue and got a new lock from Carl Nelson. Check my thread in the parts wanted section, some other people responded who had one available. I then sent it to Blaine at Santa Monica Lock and Safe to be rekeyed to my key. I would reach out to Blaine first - if you have all of those parts he may be able to rebuild it. Send him those photos and he can tell you.
 
The inner moving part of the key lock cylinder is guided by a circular plate at the end, fixed by rivets. Seems these rivets are broken, no way to get it fixed.20260116_221647.jpg
You'll need a replacement for the (short)
key lock cylinder.
Unless you find one at your place feel free to contact me.
You may need assistance to replace the key look cylinder, check FAQ first.
Regards
Thomas
 
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So…..I guess that means I need to remove the dreaded middle cylinder shear bolt(s).

Do I only need to remove one to extract the middle cylinder?
 
DWMBMW said:
So…..I guess that means I need to remove the dreaded middle cylinder shear bolt(s).

Do I only need to remove one to extract the middle cylinder?
Click to expand...
I had to remove 3 of the shear bolts, in order to move the steering column down far enough to slide the lock cylinder out.
 
Been reading the previous posts about the removal of the middle cylinder and having to also pry the steering column up (makes me a bit nervous). Is it the same procedure for all years? Mine is a 72 CSi.
 
Ah god, I just had to do this a few weeks back on my 72 CSi. I found it pretty brutal. If you look back at that thread I complained about the shear bolts and someone responded with a picture that I wish I had seen beforehand showing that there is a little tiny notch you can use to knock them slightly counterclockwise to begin to turn. I didn't know about that so I drilled them out. I did NOT need to pry the steering column up. The procedure was remove lower panel, remove shear bolts, remove grub screw and then start to try to monkey that cylinder out. I tried the trick that someone mentioned of sliding a thin piece of metal alongside the column to get the protruding portion that locks it in to be pushed inwards but that didn't work for me. I ended up removing both the left and right stalks (turn signal, etc) in order to make access easier, since each of those are just held in with a few bolts.
One thing that Don just told me about when we were talking two nights ago that will be relevant for you is that there is a lightbulb in there powered by a gray and blue wire which sits in a little indentation just to the left of the ignition cylinder. That bulb illuminates when the headlights are on and beams through a prism at the end of that indentation in order to throw some illumination onto the heater controls so that you can see them in the dark. When I opened mine up that bulb was just buried in the mess of wires so someone had clearly been there before but hadn't known where to put it back. Now you know. I'm going to be putting mine back together this evening since I got the lock cylinder back, so reach out if you have issues and I might be able to help you through it since I'll be in the same area, just a few steps ahead of you.

Here's the thread where TomHom showed how to remove the shear bolts
e9Leveque

Thread 'Ignition cylinder shear bolts'

I was having problems removing my lock cylinder and numerous previous threads had recommended lowering the steering column. This was a problem encountered by @Wes in a previous thread. Unfortunately, my euro car had four shear bolts holding the steering column in place. I had to drill those out with a reverse screw removal set. Just for future reference, those screws are M 6 x 10 mm.

And since it's sometimes a bit hard to find threads buried from years ago, here's the one that helped me the most. Some of the links don't work anymore (the ones that point to E9driven) but the content is still valid. The pictures unfortunately have a watermark on thembut you can still get the idea. You can also tell that this area is somewhat complicated to describe. Maybe someone who is slick at this needs to film the removal and post it on youtube!
Wes

Post in thread 'how to deal with the clausor and ignition switch'

deQuincey said:
explanation, blue arrow shows where the sheared bolt number 4 was
red arrow shows where the blocking pin enters (see also an schematic representation of the locking plate that goes in there)

View attachment 57189
Click to expand...

Got it.
I've pulled all that and it's still stuck.
As I've said you can pull out the mechanism towards my door about 1/2 inch and then it hits something internally.
My suspicion is that possibly something inside the barrel is catching in the sleeve, or there is a groove I need to line up or something.
This could possibly also be the root cause of my ignition failure.
Therefore...
 
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