Hey guys and gals. I found this thingy on ebay and I'm not sure exactly what it does. I'm having trouble with my ignition switch working well. Going to the first position that disengages the steering wheel lock sometimes is very hard to do. I don't know enough about how the switch works to know if replacing this device will fix the problem or not.

Please respong. Need help with this problem.


95 96 97 XJ6 VP Ignition Switch LNA6507BA on column engine start LNA6507AA XJ8 | eBay

 

Firstly the "ignition switch" as we commonly call it is in fact in 2 sections.

1) The mechanical section (barrel and key in some languages), is responsible for the column LOCK/UNLOCK.

2) The electrical section (the bit you found), is what sends the battery juice to the selected items on demand.

IF, and I say IF again, yours is stiff from the key out position to the column unlock position you have 2 issues that I know of.

1) The column is locked, we know that, and the column/wheels/rack have "loaded" the pin in the mechanical section. Sooooooo by moving the steering wheel "slightly" (as in turning it) whilst rotating the key, releases this Pre-load on the locking pin and its corresponding slot in the shaft, and allows it todis-engage very easily, with NO strain on the workings.

2) The mechanical section (the part the key slides into) needs some lubrication. I ONLY use powdered graphite here, as any other liquid lube will attract dust and screw the workings.

 

Grant, very elegantly expressed. Please have a brew on my account.

 

Brew downed, thanks for that.

Many more to down as the night wears on.

 

Thanks Grant. But the problem is not that the steering wheel if binding the wheel lock mechanism. I know to move the wheel slightly to unload the mechanism. But even doing that the key is extremely difficult to get to the first position and move the lock mechanism out of lock position. I have to push the key in hard before turning it and even then it is difficult to turn. What I am doing right now is I just don't remove the key. Leaving the key in and not removing it will keep the lock mechanism from engaging. I then lock the car with the other key and key tab. Not what I like doing but right now that is the proceedure. And I have tried using the graphite to lubricate the mechanism with no luck. One of these days I will have to take the whole darn thing apart which is something I really don't want to do. Sure wish someone else had already gone through this and would chime in.

 

OK, significantly clearer now.

I would try some silicone spray in a p/pack can. It will do NO harm, and will NOT stain anything it may drip on.

Remove the key (yep I know), attach the supplied nozzle, slide it into the lock as far as it go, and spray.

I know these X300 keys do not leave bits behind in the lock as the older style did, but dirt and grime still gets in, and then the lack of lubrication does cause things to bind somewhat over time.

I did the silicone spray thing with the boot lid barrel on my X300,as it had NEVER been used, and too late when the electrics dont play games no more, and it took some serious spraying, and careful working of the key to get it as it should be.

From the sounds of it this silicone spray task certainly cannot do any more harm.

Failing that a decent, reputable locksmith should be able to revitalise the barrel.

 

Thanks Grant for the suggestions. I'll let you know how things "work" out.

 

Just a word of caution. I recently used a lubricant on my ignition barrel in the manner described above. Just afterI inserted the thin tube into the barrel to spray the lubricant in, it gave a "click" sound, as though locking and I then discovered that the thin tube wouldn't release! No matter how hard I pulled on it. I was dubious about pulling too hard, as if it broke, leaving a piece inside the barrel would have been a minor disaster.

I found that inserting a very small screwdriver into the tip of the barrel released the little sliding gate mechanism, thus freeing the tube, which slid out easily. Just a little warning!

 

Good tip, Sogood. Fortunately I had no such problem when I sprayed silicone (using the supplied tube) in the ignition barrel as well as all keyed openings. The silicone works well.

 

Yes I have previously discovered the little trap. If I could figure out how to keep the little trap open when the key is removed that might also keep the steering wheel lock from engaging. And then maybe not.

 

How does one remove the electrical part at the rear of the ignition switch?

bliving7

 

one option since the removal of the switch pack requires the unthreading of the 2 screws from the top necessitating the dropping of the whole casting down to do so would be to drill the screws out from the bottom ( not too large to leave you some metal left to work with ) and retapping the hole left behind in reinstalling a new larger screws from the bottom . An easy-out will work for as you spin your fingers in free air and turn the fastener around to the bottom side the cork screw twist of the easy will spin the fastener through and exit out the bottom . I'm feeling very dizzy now . This will only happen if you have no button or screw-head as in mine

 

EZDriver, did you find a solution to this problem?

 

Since I posted this way back 6 years ago I'm not sure what the problem was. What I do remember about that was that I used silicon spray that fixed the problem since I have no problem in this area now.