Today my friend's wife came home to some ******* trying to steal his 2000 crew cab 4x4. The guy took off and left all his tools but he broke the door handle and drilled the ignition lock. I know how to remove the ignition switch with a key but Jason said the key won't go in. So to avoid changing the entire column is there a way to pull the switch without the key or destroying the column? I have a spare tilt column to put in my truck but don't want to change the entire column if we don't have to.

 

I think I have seen a YouTube that describes how to swap out the ignition with nothing more than a Phillips screw driver - people have to align door and ignition locks all the time. Try searching.

 

I don't have an answer to your question however will say I'm sorry for the unfortunate experience. People shouldn't try to steal other people's trucks...pisses my 12GA off...

 

Had the ignition lock in my E series van lock up suddenly. It had never given a problem and just suddenly locked up and I could never get it to turn again. I ended up drilling the cylinder out. I pulled the whole column out so I could see better and keep the filings from getting down into everything.

There is a pin that locks the cylinder into the column, the pin can only be depressed when the cylinder is turned to the on position. If you can't turn the cylinder and get it to the on position you will have to drill it. Carefully drill out the cylinder until you can either turn the cylinder or get the the pin to release.

It's not a difficult job but requires lots of care to make sure you are drilling only the lock cylinder and avoid damage to the column casting. I would drill then change to a larger bit, then drill some more and repeat. Think I was up to 1/2" bit, eventually I got all the pins and tumblers out of the way and was able to turn what was left of the cylinder. When you can turn the cylinder and get it to the on position, you can depress the pin and pull the lock cylinder housing out of the column.

Found a video that might help

 

Drill the tumbler keeper pin
or use a flat blade to force the tumbler to the correct position then push the tumbler keeper pin
or punch the tumbler keeper pin and slide hammer the lock ( worst case scenerio )

they are pretty wimpy tumblers so the idea is get it out without damage to the column .... keep the dead tumbler in case the wafers are salvageable to rekey the new tumbler yourself ?

 

Got it apart and all fixed. I cleaned all the loose parts out of the tumbler and grabbed the drill. I held the trigger on the drill for literally 1 second and then grabbed the screw driver and it turned. I told Jason that's how close he was to losing his truck. If his wife had been caught at a red light or left work 30 seconds later it would've been gone.

So instead of a missing truck or a $500 deductible I gave him a spare lock and top column plastic and door handle I had in the attic then had my lock re-keyed to his key for $40. Jason bought me a spare key for my truck and gave me the Bosch 18 volt grinder and impact driver that the thief left behind with his backpack full of tools. This guy knew what he was doing. He is calling tomorrow to set up an appointment to have a good alarm installed. Thanks for the help yet again guys.