91 truck, ignition switch locked up

I hope someone out there has tackled this before. I've repaired/replaced just about everything possible that a shadetree mechanic can in the past, but have never had the need to work on or replace an ignition switch.

91 Toyota truck, manual steering,

I've had trouble with this switch in the past, but a little graphite and a new key have always taken care of it. Last night when trying to leave work, nothing worked. It is almost as if the internal "steering-wheel-ignition-lock-lever" is stuck, but I can't be sure, the stinking key just will not turn. Pulling the steering wheel hard one way, hard the other way, etc.

I removed the lower dash, and the lever-actuator from the steering wheel column looks to be an integral part of the switch. The whole thing looks to be made of pot-metal or aluminum, and it is fastened to the steering wheel column with some sort of tamper-proof bolts.

The head of the bolts look like nothing I've seen before, but there is a seam on them that makes it look as if you could tear or pry them off to expose (I guess) a phillips head.

I'm determined to just replace the switch. Went online to Autozone, and they have what they say is a replacement.

Questions:

  1. Anyone worked on these tamper proof type bolts before and have advice on getting them out?
  2. Anyone replaced their ignition switch with an aftermarket version successfully?

Any help greatly appreciated, I don't have the money to have a shop do this at the moment.

Best Regards,

Jeff

Original owner, 91 2WD, 186,000 and still running great (when the freakin' key turns)

Reply to
Jeff Gossett
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Try this first.. my Celica is getting a bit sketchy with the ignition switch itself and what I have to do is either A) flip the key over and try the other way or B) put force on the key such that i'm pressing downward on the tumblers as I turn the ignition key to the start position. For the past couple days, this has been happening in my car and no amount of jiggling the steering wheel releases the lock.

In answer to your questions (in reverse):

  1. I would shy away from an aftermarket ignition switch, personally. Just not something I want to fail again after replacing even if the price is attractive. Just get a Toyota unit and remove all items except the ignition key and a fob from the keyring. That is the biggest single cause of ignition switch failure.

  1. I have not dealt with the Toyota breed of security bolts, but I have done them in other cars.. What I usually do is take a hammer and a very very sharp chisel and get a bite hammering the screw counter-clockwise. Usually a few good whacks will get it to come loose... then you can use a pair of pliers or something to turn the screw the rest of the way out.... Same deal I use sometimes to get out rounded-off fasteners (or frozen MacPherson strut nuts). Can also be done with an air-chisel. I haven't tried the air-chisel on the security bolts, but I imagine you'd need to be more careful because of other things close by.

Reply to
Celica Dude

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