Keybarrel Steering lock question please??

[Huffy]

Ha ha , I have vowed not to get too excited with messing with this sort of stuff again , but as I am struggling with a hip thats likely worn out , I find close up electrical /mechanical /fiddly /small 2 stroke stuff too, keeps me occupied ,and I enjoy it !!

The nice thing was that the guy where the car was originally towed , was as awkward as hell and his parting shot was ,your mate or your Dad wont fix that love so take it and best of luck ! I am sure he didnt like me sticking my oar in ,and to be fair who would ? , but nice to have had a result !
And a shout out to some great vids on You Tube , its a bit like sorting wheat from the chaff , but some great tips and some funny things people will do ,and just funny people as well
I will add the 3 or 4 that gave me a terrific deal of help with the way things came off and what not to do!!
Because messing with the sterring wheel ,airbar and rotator ring isnt everyones idea of fun ,and I was advised to tape the rotator ring in its original position so it will not get messed up (despite it being pegged ito the wheel back ,to align it ) avoiding static when plugging unplugging the airbag -wear rubber gloves ) and with battery dissconnected a good half hour before ! And not messing with the key on the replacement steering barrel before its bolted back up !!!!!
Although the foreign lads who drill the spring? out of the barrel to release the steering lock if its stuck out and the guy who removed the aerial ring and punched the lock out of it ,then punched the lock out and ground/removed all the tumblers , was a real laugh!
But effective I would think , if you were stuck with a poor or non existant source of parts !!

[Crasher]

I wonder who will be the first You Tube blogger to blow themselves up videoing themselves hacking into an electric cars high voltage system, should make for some pretty gory viewing watching some hapless soul incinerate themselves. At least the inquest will have video evidence...

[Huffy]

Yes indeed One day no doubt!!

A footnote to my ramblings.
Daughter fetched the car yesterday and I wont be entirely happy until I have had the second key cut !!

However ,I had half an hour in the workshop with the old barrel and the old lock. I have her spare key to this lock ,which turns lovely without any snagging when its in your hand and not mated to the barrel!
So I drilled the plug and springs out of the barrel itself and they managed to dissassemble the barrel ! Plastic circlip and knock the rest of the bits out ! I doubt it was at fault in the first place !!
No broken bits in fact when I threw the lock away and just used the centre rod and return spring in it and redid it ,it works fine !!
SO, I refitted the lock to that barrel ,and despite being free and easy when off, it went tight tight tight !!!

The locks the culprit !
So before you strip off the whole barrel off your Mk 6 /5 , take the lock off ,with the hair grip treatment , and see if it will start with a screwdriver though the slot (with aerial lead still attached )
I wonder if the pressure against the back of the lock makes it difficult to turn when fitted on ours !! Then if you suspect the lock itself ,you can put a second hand lock in instead of changing the barrel too !! Might save changing all that for the sake of it

[Huffy]

Having spent that hr or two in the workshop - destroying the lock to see just what was up with it , I am now convinced it was just crap in it that was causing all the problems !
My Autoelectrician told me he has had several cars that have suffered with crud being pushed into the lock tumblers over time and this causes the spring loaded links in there to not push out of the way enough when the keys in !!
Switch cleaner and you may be good (he actually did that to Joannas and it did free it up somewhat before it stiffened badly 2 days later !
I wonder , having taken the lock completely apart (and wrecked it ) if the black crud in one of the 2 slots the tumblers go into ,was restricting it still?

So , if you have a key that wont turn properly in the ignition , you can always remove the aerial ring and lock first , from the aluminium barrel ,with a hairgrip (You tube it) This saves all the barrel sterring wheel off hopefully !
Then with it off , and still connected electrically you can now start the car with a screwdriver into the barrel.
This will see if the barrel had a problem with a broken off part in it ! If not ,you can actually use the car as long as the key is in the lock !! No problem - start it with s/driver and away to go !
Just lock car with your spare key ! until you sort it
If you suspect the locks crudy (and I am more convinced this is a regular problem ) dissconnect it land drop it in some brake cleaner , use gloves , work the key in and out and turn it ,do this time after time until you think it might be clean .
Then let it dry and then squirt a tad of slicone lubricant maybe .
Refit and see if that works !