740 wagon broken key in the ignition

Hello fellow bricksters,

I broke half my key in the ignition last night. Today, I carefully tried getting it out with no luck using picks.

Other than calling a locksmith, whats my best option getting it out?

Thanks,
Randy

I once broke my only key off in the door, luckily there was a slight big sticking out that I was able to grab onto with vice grips. You might want to try that, but if there's no meat sticking out to grab onto, you could try a very strong magnet if it's an OE dealer key made of steel.

smaller picks, magnets, and carefully filed snap ring pliers have all helped me.

This is a long shot (and coming from someone hasn't encountered this yet) but you could try using an adhesive and attach it to something to pull it out.

Step one : remove all this ****.
Step two : install ignition control panel http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/qcr-50-864/overview/

I ended up calling a locksmith, but he couldn't get the key out due to the piece being in there way too deep. So he ended up going Rambo and destroyed the lock. The car now runs and drives with the help of a screwdrives, but I noticed that I lost turn signals,defroster, moonroof operation and the key in chime is constantly on. Also, the ABS light is on.

Could this be an issue with the switch itself? If so, how difficult this the ignition switch to replace

Ignition switch shouldn't be hard, just time consuming IIRC. I'd check your fuses for the others. Do your windows work?

wolfpuss said:

I ended up calling a locksmith, but he couldn't get the key out due to the piece being in there way too deep. So he ended up going Rambo and destroyed the lock. The car now runs and drives with the help of a screwdrives, but I noticed that I lost turn signals,defroster, moonroof operation and the key in chime is constantly on. Also, the ABS light is on.

Could this be an issue with the switch itself? If so, how difficult this the ignition switch to replace

Click to expand...

Did you just stole a car?

I've actually had lock with a dab of solder and gaming in in quich
Also I gave a complete ignition with key and vin if need be

I've actually had <strike> lock</strike> luck
with a dab of solder and gaming
in in quich

wolfpuss said:

I lost turn signals,defroster, moonroof operation

Click to expand...

Blown fuse

wolfpuss said:

key in chime is constantly on

Click to expand...

BC your lock cylinder is destroyed.

Depending on how much overdrilling Rambo did that day, you may be able to reinstall a replacement lock cylinder. They are $20 at parts stores. Oh wait, this isn't a common American car!?

Replace the lock cylinder now before it gets stuck in the locked position. If it gets stuck in the locked position you'll have to drop the column and cut the whole mechanism off/open to get the lock out.

As already stated, the original keys are steel and rarely break.

Thanks for the advice everyone! They lock cylinder appears to be in very rough shape. I went ahead and purchased a used ignition switch from Ebay. I will be installing it when it arrives next week. I will check for blown fuses, noping that will cure my issues. I will report back after installation.

For the record, this is my car, purchased with my hard earned cash.
Story how the key broke: I was leaving work late at night and it was cold. Being a wuss, I figured to get the car started the sooner the better. Well, I jammed the key in the ignition and it broke off. But before I realized it, I kept jamming the whats left of the key (about 40%) of the key broke off. I kept working it for about 10 mins, doing all kinds of wiggling and jigging. Turns out, I made the problem worse. Now the remainder is deep in the lock cylinder.

I have done 2 or 3 Chevy lock cylinders recently. They fail where you cannot turn the key easily. The way a lock cylinder is replaced=turn KEY to on position and then you poke a pick thru a hole and the cylinder pops right out! If you don't have a key, or you are a thief, column must be drilled. Designed that way. Not to be easy. Actually, thiefs can use grinded down keys and get a cylinder to turn. See below. On modern cars, the lock sees a signal from the key and allows engine to run. Thiefs can toss a hacked ECU in the car to steal it.


I lost my Volvo key while in Ensenada, Mexico and a locksmith came out with a blank, put the blank in a pair of vice grips, put in ignition, FELT tumblers, removed, grinded down blank with a file bit by bit, and eventually got the key to turn. Hand-cut me a new key with a file! Amazing! It cost me $8.


I have a dead Dub at the shop right now. 2002 Passat. I fried the instrument cluster during electrical diag. Don't ask. But we have a replacement used cluster and it is a complete cluster **** trying to get it reprogramed so car will start. VW had it for a minute after used cluster install, and they may have tampered with the software and now our expert cant even reprogram the cluster to match the VIN. It's a complete mess we have to sort out. ****ing VAG stuff is tough.

stiligFox said:

Ignition switch shouldn't be hard, just time consuming IIRC. I'd check your fuses for the others. Do your windows work?

Click to expand...

Small update: I got around checking for blown fuses. It turns out all fuses are good. Also, the windows does not work. Is this related with the ignition switch or something bigger?

BTW, the car worked great prior to this episode. All systems worked as it should.

The ignition switch is at the other end of the lock cylinder housing. There's a part in the middle that connects the lock cylinder to the switch, this part also locks the steering column (wheel). This may have been damaged in the Rambo attack.

It's weird - The windows and power roof are tied together to a metal fuse that can reset itself - It's designed (I believe) to blow incase a motor is overloaded (I.E. a hand I think) and then reset after 20 seconds or so - or at least it is on my 960. Have you done anything outside of the cylinder smashing? My first thought was maybe a part of the harness that leads to the switches got damaged, but that wouldn't explain why the windows aren't working. Still sounds like a fuse... Can you pull the hazard/defrost/sunroof switches out of the sockets in your dash and verify that they haven't been cut in some freak accident?

You could also try pulling the power from the battery, give car 30 seconds for the power to drain and see if that helps. I was having transmission issues and that fixed it.

(I always feel like i need to add this - I'm a complete a noob - so please take my advice with a grain of salt!)

Update: It appears that the ignition switch harness was disturbed and was loose, not completely making contact to the switch. I simply re-connected it and everything now works! Im still need to install the new ignition cylinder so ill have a key rather than a screwdriver to start the car.

Thanks Everyone!