my 7 died in the dmv parking lot...

the key is old and worn down and i told my bro to try and wiggle it to cut it on, b/c i'd done it a few times before and it worked fine, just bought the car yesterday... got up here drove a bit got to the dmv and i think he broke something in the ignition switch where the key goes in like a little metal bar, anyway i hotwired the car then realized i had to take off the ignition or get the key to turn which won't happen, and i left it, any help in an easy solution, or any solution at all would be appreciated...

yesterday on my way to ga. to buy it, i live in cola sc. my trucks rear dif. burnt out and left me stranded for 2 hours then this i'm going to go cry now lol

and i owe 1200 or so to my college, and my insurance runs out in august...

i'm so screwed lol

 

I feel your pain dude....
Except I owe my college ~$4100 and my insurance already ran out... :-P

So the car is home now anyway and you can work on it? I'm not exactly sure I understand what's broken.

 

1 reply and 0 views???

 

No...

2 replies and 0 views

I suspect it'll now be 3...

 

haha, well, the ignition is fubar and the steering lock is on, whats an easy way to get the steering lock off without a key?

i mean jeez i allready hotwired it and now all i need is my wheel to turn

 

if the ingnition switch itself is toast you will have to take it off. Not too hard with the right tools. Since you alread hotwired it I'm sure you have the bottom cover off. There are four security break off bolts on the bottom of the switch. Get a cold chisel and a hammer. make a groove in them so you can use a screw driver to get them out. drop the swith hot wire the car and go home.

Second option not pretty but I did it, once upon a time ago. Get a dent puller with a screw on the end. the one that car thieves use to take out our door locks (bastards) use that to pop the guts of the switch out. you will need a small piece of metal to go in the hole and fit in the space left where the switch used to engage. and pair of vicegrips come in handy to keep that piece of metal in the hole which is a slight balancing act.

 

thats bad dude. just cried 4 u.

 

lol thanks bro, at least you did b/c i'm too burnt out lol

so the first option w/ the chizzling of the bolts... i can just pop the heads off the bolts and it'll pull apart? or do i have to screw them out.

my dad suggested the dent puller when i asked him but i didn't think it sounded very easy, and it's in the dmv parking lot and i'll prolly get lots of nice ppl telling them i'm stealing my own friggin car hahah

 

The heads of the bolts are recessed inside the aluminum clamp that holds it to the column. Youll have to screw them out. There are four of them. I think it would be better to do it this way. You can get the assembly off and take it to a locksmith to get fixed and a new key made. save money in the long run. lock sets are get expensive and hard to come by.

 

Do not rip the ignition out, it is better to unscrew the bolts. There are only 2 of them not 4. Under the dash there are a couple bolts holding the steering column up which you can unbolt (with a socket) and the column will drop down a couple inches for more room to work. Personally I never tried cutting grooves in the bolts heads to fit a screwdriver in. (It didn't occur to me and I did not have a dremel handy.) I used a cold chisel and hammer. If you place the chisel off center of the bolt head you can get it to turn by tapping it with the hammer. Once it gets loose enough you can turn it with pliers or vicegrips. It is a little tedious but it works, takes between 20-30 mins if I recall. Over the years I did it on 3 cars.

 

hammering a screw driver into the ignition so everything in the back spills out too, thats where the wheel lock is, it would be pretty simple to do if i would have known that before i got pissed and slammed a screwdriver into it oh well now it's wired to a switch.

 

oh, and now i need a wiring diagram for the ignition if anyone has one... or knows where one is... i don't have a manual yet but i'm working on it lol

thanks for your help -Josh

 

Wasn't there a HOWTO on steering wheel lock removal for racing classes that require it's removal?

 

http://www.mazspeed.com/steeringwheellockremoval.htm