my key quit working.
 

and now i've got the steering wheel removed... i can't afford the tow to the dealership, let alone the service. i'm just trying to do as little ugly-hacking as i can manage. so... i'm looking for detailed information about replacing igniton-key-cores, and replacing the plastic slidery-thingamagic attatched to the lever that 'needs' to be pressed to remove the key... i swear to christ i'm about ready to take the band-saw to it and start steering with a MF'n crescent-wrench!!! so yeah. uh, help. please.odcyoycq

what just happened? where did this reply-box come from? who am i talking to? what's your deal?

uh, hello?

**** the uick-reply button evidently. oh. okay. that's what's happening. *note to self: going online after i'm ready to break the parts, doesn't make for effective web-presence. dear self, please remember.

oh yeah, potentially pertinent information includes, uhm. the key doesn't turn. which makes the key-core removal procedure i've come across irrelevant. cause the key doesn't turn!

What year truck?

'00

i've got pix on my phone...

sure you didn't somehow bend your key? I bent my key and it would go in the ignition but not turn. got out my spare key and it turned the ignition. upon further examination, the key was tweaked.

edit: nice name btw.

hmmm. thanx for the idea. i cant imagine how i'd 've bent the key in my floatie while kayaking. but i'll check that tomorrow. don't have a spare key. boo.

Hey eatmyass, welcome to Ranger-Forums.com

Make sure to check out RFs picture gallery here
CLICK TO CHECK IT OUT - RATE PICTURES

Hope to see you around!

what are the options for linking pictures? uploading from cell-phone.

send them to your email, save them, upload to photobucket, then post the IMG url here.

thanx, but that requires registering for another site. registration is one of my worst nightmares. i'd rather start hitch-hiking. sell the damn thing for scrap. *breathe* i just want to know where to put the drill. or perhaps before that, how to remove part-number F75C-3F642-AB. so i can check the slide-action on the key-interlock device. i can't ****ing believe some asshole got away with installing a plastic connection in the igniton switch. thingamadgigetty.

cheap truck for sale. ;p
:censored::dunce:

btw, did straighten key. no help there at all. was barely bent. on the plus side, did use micrometer today... and the vice. and the hammer. and the torque-wrench. next step drills and bandsaws!!!

if you don't want to register for photobucket, use tinypic. no registering, just upload the picture and it gives you an IMG code.

so... i got the key turned... now where is the info about removing the ignition cylinder core?

You turn the key to the like first click. There is what looks like a ball bearing looking thing on the bottom side of the casing around the cylinder. Push it in. You might have to move the key back and forth a little but it will go in. They pull the cylinder right out. Its simple.

thanks robert. unfortunately that didn't work.

key quit turning again when i tried to re-mount the column. duck futz. C'est la Vie. i got the damn thing out. now to discover what a matched core is gonna cost.

in the meantime... well, it's not the most ghetto hack i've ever driven. i sure hope the install procedure goes a ton of a lot smoother than the extraction. as it turns out, a piece of the lock housing, not the core itself, had somehow cracked inside... dangumt strange thing that.

while i'm at it, what's the life-expectancy on that plastic actuator shaft? and what's the replacement procedure for that? is it supposed to have a <>10* bend in it where it couples?

Is that your real name? lol

Wont lie, if your tech question wasnt in the intro thread area you would get even more help there I believe.

As I said earlier, welcome to the site.

well. got the key-core out. thank you drill! got everything else put back together, and the 'actual' switch rigged... for like, in the mean-time. so yay! but then i put the steering column back together, i know, as it turns out, disassembling it wasn't that necessary. but now that it's back together, even with-out the ignition lock switch installed, the little gearetty thing in back that actuates the connecting rod, STILL DOESN'T WORK... so... more debugging...

thanks rick. is it possible to move this thread?

that'd be great. cause, C&P is not my friend either.

peace and grease!

yep.