1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
First off, thank God for these BB's.. I wouldn't even've delved into my center console without them.
That being said... I wish I hadn't now... Let me preface this: I went into this repair sans Bentley, armed with only a Haynes Manual. Yes, blind basically.
Long story short, somehthing in my ignition housing is broken. Key goes spins free with no resistance at any location. Just before I heard an audible POP as something crucnhed down in the gearset, I turned the key in the ignition to be met with dimmed lights but no turning over. I got into chat last night, and was advised that my lock cylinder may be salvageable, but the gearset and ignition switch have to be replaced - meaning the housing must come off.
No problemo- I've never done this before, but hey.. it's my car, and I'm too cheap to tow it in for just about anything short of a tranny failure..
I just came back in from two back wrenching hours of battle with this ignition assembly, and I'm feeling dejected - Here's what I already knew, and what I've also discovered..
1. I knew the ignition had been replaced once before, hence I now have two separate keys in order to operate the cars (one to drive, one to lock up)
2. I knew I would probably have to dismantle a good part of the front console, carpeting and seating in order to work on the housing..
3. the dreaded tri-wing nuts were bound to cause me grief!
Here is what I learned..
1. I did NOT need to remove the front seat... a bit of twisting and bending here and there and that floor console came right up..
2. The wing nuts were no problem with a set of needle nose pliers, thankfully because they were only hand tightened before, and not overly stripped - so no hammer-chisel technique was necessary to pull them.
And now, what surprised me..
3. apparently, there are two more bolts on the underside of the metal housing which need torx bits to remove.. and you need either a 90 degree driver, or a tiny ratchet to get at them - I had neither, and gave up after an hour of fighting with them.
4. I was not expecting my ignition switch to look just like a simple plug..
Apparently one of the previous owners had a kill switch installed - so he spliced that control module into the ignition.. the wiring was directly plugged into the ignition switch, but I thought that from the top of the assembly, the ignition swithc was a flat, black, piece that protruded from underneath the metal housing.. I'm having a hard time visualizing the piece i see for sale on SAABSite.com fitting into that opening.. unless the pic they show is the underside of the switch?
5. I did a lot of pulling and yankin on the housing and my gear selecter linkage was moving around a bit.. I'd removed the top lever, and plastic ball assembly first, mistakenly thinking I needed to do that in order to flip the housing.. Previous owner ALSO took out the reverselockout, but I keep the car in reverse gear when parked anyway.. Am I going to have linkage problems when I re-attach the stick or will I have to recalibrate the stick now that I've removed it, even though the car is in gear?
FINALLY ---- MY QUESTIONS!!
I know that's alot to read guys.. I was proud of myself for jumping into my first repair, but mad that I came UNprepared to deal with those underside bolts.. I had set my mind on just replacing the whole assembly with an Ebay one, but if disassembly is almost half- done, then how much more difficult will swapping out the ignition switch, and gearset be and re-using what I have?
2. Is my lock cylinder still good? Can I get by with just replacing the gearset and ignition switch? I know a gummy lock usually calls for replacement, but what about one that spins free? I don't have a problem with the key coming out while driving, and I don't know If I'm up for putting back the reverse lockout, but it seems to me that something in the lock itself must've snapped if the key turns all the way to start with no resistance..
I swear, my Bentley is on the way, and this'll hopefully be the last of my dumb questions.. I don't know why I was so scared of tinkering on these cars before! I guess when coming from VW's everythings seems a bit less idiot-friendly, lol!!
posted by 24.193.245...
, Sat, 19 Feb 2005 04:04:46, Sat, 19 Feb 2005 04:18:24
, Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:17:59, Fri, 18 Feb 2005 06:56:40
, Fri, 18 Feb 2005 05:43:06
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
