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Key stuck in ignition switch

A couple of days ago I left home with my family for a 9-day trip in our

1999 Discovery Series II (68,000 miles). When we stopped for supper the key would not come out of the ignition switch. I tried moving the shifter in and out of PARK but that didn't work.

Since then I've traced the problem to the module or switch that indicates to the car the position the shifter is in. When the car is cold the red lights on the shifter bezel light to indicate the shifter position, and the LCD indicator on the dash next to the odometer shows P,R,N,D,3,2,1. In this condition the key can be turned and comes out.

After driving the car and getting it warmed up the red lights and the PRND321 indicators disappear. In that condition the key cannot be turned and removed even though the shifter is in the P position. The other indication that it is all tied together is that the steering wheel lock works fine when the car is cold but doesn't engage when it is hot.

This indicates to me that there is an electrical switch module that is causing the problem. When the car is cool the switch makes contact to indicate the shifter position. When the car is hot the switch components expand and fail to make contact.

Because I will be on the road the next 7 days I can't look up the repair in my shop manual. Can someone please tell me the following?

- Is the diagnosis correct?

- What is the part called that needs to be replaced?

- Can the problem be corrected by cleaning the switch component(s)?

- Is the part replaced from the above or from below the car?

Thanks for your help.

MLN

Reply to
MLN
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On or around 26 Jun 2005 05:50:39 -0700, "MLN" enlightened us thusly:

Not familiar with it, but there's a lot of talk about alarm spiders. Has the Disco II got such an animal?

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Donno, could be. There is a "switch" that tells the BCU (which talks to the instrument panel to show the display there and controls the selector display) and the EAT and the ECU as well.

Selector Position Switch... has 4 coded ouputs along with Park, Neutral and Reverse.

Probably below, it is located on the shaft that takes the cable from the selctor lever into the gearbox. There is an exposed multiplug, maybe that has got filled up with gunk or corrosion?

No experience, just looking in the workshop manual...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

At the risk of jinxing my good fortune I can report that it was the selector position switch that caused the problem. Once I got home to my tools and was able to look it up in my shop manual I found that the selector position switch (also called an XYZ switch) could be adjusted on the transmission selector shaft a few degrees by loosening the two bolts that hold it in position and rotating it on the shaft to a position where the indicator lights and LCD work properly. I then tightened the hold-down bolts and tried it out on the road. It's a lot like how we used to adjust ignition timing by loosening the distributor hold down bolt, rotating the distributor guided by a timing light, then retightening. This took some trial and error because I didn't have the Land Rover alignment tool made for the job, but following my second attempt it has worked perfectly for 4 days now.

The hold-downs take a 10mm socket, and I found that a smaller, 1/4 inch drive ratchet was easier to use in the tight, cramped space. To remove the switch completely you also need a 13mm socket or wrench to remove the selector lever before sliding the XYZ switch off of the shaft. Once that is done I recommend unclipping the multiplug from its clip where it's mounted to the side of the transmission before trying to unplug it. I have pretty small hands but the space is just too tight to work in otherwise. Lood for and press down on a little plastic lever on the side of the plug and it will slip right off of the mounting clip.

Best of all is that I avoided buying a $200+ part and paying my friendly, local Land Rover dealer over $300 in labor to fix a problem that I was able to correct in under an hour, even though I had to learn as I went.

Good luck to you if you have this problem.

Regards,

MLN

Reply to
MLN

That usually means you have a broken engine or tranny mount which allows the engine to shift, which tosses off the linkage adjustment.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

MLN wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

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