Clamping Ignition Lock in Opel - DIY Repair

In an old, optionally like cheap shot car I have a habit of not always pressing all buttons. Why? Because I can drive the car well without an open window or without open sunroof. Because: if the electric motor breaks when opening or closing - and he is sure to strike "on the way" and does not break until the window is completely open or closed - then you have the trouble.

Door trim off, remove engine, throttle window up, lock, new engine ran (for a lot of money!), Glue the water barrier again, assemble door trim, finished. It costs you two hours, a lot of nerves and just a new engine. If he was the culprit and not something completely different behind the defect.

Of course, one of the charms of an old car is that something breaks. For many it is exactly the reason to buy such a box, because the hours in the garage are just nice hours. Just: not always. In everyday life, the carrot may like to work. And if I save work by not constantly pushing around on all buttons, then I like doing that.

So I was listening in the Corsa, when suddenly in the summer, the ignition a little hooked. Keys in and turn, somehow sometimes was not as easy as usual. What now? Unfortunately, the tactic of not using the ignition switch fails. Feeling had to judge it, caution instead of clumsy "in and out". Only sometime, it should have been in the middle of August, the Corsa stood all day beautiful in the blazing sun: nothing more. Key in and tight. The lock did not move a millimeter. Not even as you know it with locked steering lock, it was nothing.

Repair Opel Corsa 002 Tight-fitting lock

It was clear that something massive was wrong. Since Google is known to be your friend, it quickly became "Corsa ignition lock stuck"Searched and the answer followed promptly. All forums, fan pages, DIY collections and other guides brought it: Opel ignition locks jam in the summer. At least older, from the years of construction in the mid-nineties until the early nineties. So what do you do? The advice was varied. Some wanted with WD40, Fat and other home remedies have the castle again passable, which seemed to me due to the absolute immobility of the key rather unlikely.

Another solution was ice spray, Many affected people wrote about the different extent of the lock materials, which led to a jamming. That sounded plausible, but unfortunately I had no such spray on hand at the parking lot. So I had to wait, because what an ice spray can do, that also creates the sinking temperature in the evening. So it was then, just in time for the sunset, the key turned again and the Corsa drove not on lot, but directly into the garage.

The reason for this is that you must not delay the defect with the ignition. Because you can only remove the ignition, as long as you can turn the steering wheel. And you can only turn the steering wheel if the lock does not lock into place. But it does, if the key is in position 0. If you can not take it away from there, you can not turn the steering wheel as far as it needs to dismantle the screws of the fairing. In addition, you can solve the ignition lock only in position II from the lock in the steering column.

Repair Opel Corsa 009 Tight-fitting lock

So whoever hooks the ignition for the first time: immediately to work!

Of course you can fix it with a new lock. In the accessories there are sets with keys for little money, no 40 Euro usually enough. For this you will have two keys in the future: one for the doors and the new one for the ignition lock. The Opel dealer is a bit more expensive, like to 150 Euro plus assembly, it needs the original Carpass, a proof of ownership and a bit of patience until the coded locks are sent from Rüsselsheim. You can then continue with the old keys.

So here's the tutorial on how to fix the problem in an hour and at almost no cost!

The first step is to disengage the steering column cover. There are three screws, two of which are almost behind the horn buttons, for which the steering wheel must be rotated to release each 90 degrees. (That's why the repair is hardly, if the lock can not turn!) The last screw is found on the bottom. If you have solved all three, just fumble off the two-piece cover and set to work to solve the inserted wiper lever. Simple pulling is enough, you can then let it dangle on the cable or for more space to work short staking.

You can now see a small opening in the casting of the steering column next to the yellow cable package. There you insert a small Allen key and with a little pressure releases the lock of the ignition lock. This should now accommodate you (it must stand in position II!) Spring-loaded.

The actual fix of the problem can now begin. Seen from behind, you can see the locking pin (the source of the evil!), Which connects the actual lock with the case. To disassemble, you simply have to turn the lock over position III, then you can pull the housing over the lock. Be careful, the locking pin is spring-loaded and distributed, if you do not feel it and a protective hand on the whole, like irretrievably in the rearmost garage corner.

If you have disconnected the ignition, you should make sure that no joke cookie pulls the key out of the lock. In the disconnected state, the Codierblättchen and feathers would now fall out and you could spend the next three weeks to find the old order, without which the key would no longer fit.

The problem of clamping is in the case. Who looks at the recess in the casting for the locking pin, who will recognize that this has already worked well into the material. In my Corsa case there was a considerable burr, which made sure that the locking pin could not run up the ramp and jammed on the ridge with high interior temperature and corresponding expansion of the casting (higher than the steel of the pin!).

Photographically, this is a bit difficult to hold. Who has made it so far, but who will see for himself, where at his ignition the problem lies. The ridge simply with a small file (Schlüsselfeilenset in the hardware store, etc.) remove a dremel or some sandpaper and patience, then clean and ready. As a precautionary measure, the locking pin can still be chamfered, so that its factory-made rectangular head can no longer work into the material so easily and, on the other hand, can not easily become jammed. I clamped it into the drill and briefly held the file. Then smooth a little bit with the sandpaper and you're done.

The installation is logically in reverse order.

The operation has succeeded to my satisfaction, the lock has never been clamped again and it can also be much smoother. So it's worth trading at the first sign. Because crack on steering wheel lock, drill the steering column to unlock the ignition and all the other inconvenience that brings a second key to start with it, certainly anyone can do without.

The whole repair takes less than an hour without any prior knowledge and costs nothing, as long as you have a Phillips screwdriver, a small Allen key and a few small files on hand.

mr fast auto parts

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