1992 F150 ignition lock cylinder removal
 

Long story short, or perhaps vice versa...

Truck has been sitting for a year or two. Time came to fire it up to haul some stuff. So, it was off to the key stash to find the keys, but no key worked.

(disclaimer now... not my truck and I was not witness to that which follows and I heard about it only after the fact)

So, the solution to the key not working was to beat the **** out of the (wrong) key with a 2x4 in hopes that would make it happy. It wasn't happy.

A second helper came along, and correctly diagnosed the problem being the wrong key. back to the key stash to find another key, and the correct key was found. Now, after this damage... it took some playing with, but they did get the key to turn and the truck to run. yay!

First 3 nights, the key never left the ignition switch for fear that it wouldn't go back in. 4th night, the key had to come out for fear of theft, as the truck had to be parked in a less-than-trustworthy place.

Lo and behold, next (this) morning, key wouldn't work. Tried another (again, correct this time) spare key, but it turned out to be cracked, and it broke off in the ignition.

And the steering is now locked.

So, any thoughts on getting that lock cylinder out of there without completely shredding the interior? For now, just wanting to get this thing started and home. Screwdriver start would be fine.

I know this sounds bad, but I assure you... we are working with the right keys (one of which is now broke off in the lock), have title, registration, insurance... etc.

If anyone has insights that they don't want to post publicly, email would be great and I'd gladly remove this post when we figure it out.

Help greatly appreciated!

avovo@yahoo.com

Truck in question is a '92 plain Jane F150 2wd 5 speed, no tilt (as best recalled by a previous owner and current friend)

If you can turn the key to run, all you need to do is push in the retainer pin on the bottom of the column and the lock cyl slides out. You don't need to remove the plastic cover, there is an access hole. If you go ahead and buy a new lock cylinder it will help you locate the pin on your truck. If you can't get it to turn, remove the plastic cover and use a rotary cutoff wheel or dremel to grind the pin. You will damage the column beside the pin this way but if you grind the slot parralell to the steering shaft it will still work. After you get the old one out, turn it to run with a screwdriver and insert the new lock cyl.

Thanks! That's about what I was picturing...

Appreciate it. Mods, if you care to delete... by all means, do.

And as a followup, just got this from my brother who's been trying to deal with the problem:

yeah knew about the pin. cant turn the lock so had to drill the pin out (and its very hard steel). Then still would not come out because it was locked into AUX position and it wont come out that way (found that out after the fact when I saw how it works in there). Had to drill into the lock deep enough so the back bit of the lock would break off. Then disassemble other stuff in there deeper at which point I got it to start with a screwdriver w/teh steering unlockede. Got all that back together and got a new lock cylinder ($13.00) and it went together easily. Just got it fixed,, took most of the day.

:)

Mine is on the-way-out.

The moral of this tale seems to be "replace ti before it gets too bad".

Fifteen minutes and $13.00, Vs taking the whole column apart.

The problem is that I believe you have to be able to turn the key in the lock in order to remove it from the cylinder. I had mine changed out by a locksmith... I watched him from a distance, unlike my 90 the 92 has a lock pin visible from the underside of the column parallel to the key cylinder. I could be wrong....