electrical and ignition Piece Of Crap Ignition Switch....

[landon]

It only lasted 39 years and 416,256 miles.

 

Anyway, it is starting to get consistently get stuck now where it will not go into the START position. It almost stranded me today but I had a nice hill nearby that I rolled it to and was able to push start it. 

 

Is there a thread on the actual repair on the forum ( I searched?) or a copy of the infamous Mike Self article?

 

Mike - can you help?

 

landon@anderson-structural.com

 

Thank you!

[Roland]

I am not aware of a specific writeup regarding the ignition switch but I have put on about the same amount of mileage on several.

Most often the switch fails as it literally starts to come apart.  Reach under the dash to where the wires attach at the back of the switch.  You may find it loose.  Remove the grub screw holding the switch in place and look at it carefully.  That back end is staked to the forward piece and if it becomes loose, the mechanism and its few internals stop making necessary physical contact.  If you take things apart you will notice that there is probably hardened grease.  That lack/loss of lubrication probably adds to the mechanism working loose. R and R'ing is pretty self evident.  However, it is also possible that the metal contacts are too worn or the plastic housing has become too brittle for reasonable and reliable use, in which case the entire switch could be replaced.

[KFunk]

I forwarded you mike self's article.

[KFunk]

Mine recently jammed myself.  I popped the wires off the back to hotwire to get me home.  Jump a red wire to the green wires to get ignition on, and jump red to black/white wire briefly to spin starter.  This won't do crap to steering lock though, so make sure key is turned at least on.

 

For fixing actual lock, you're gonna have to unscrew the electrical part from the back, and drill out the little pin underneath the cylinder just a bit, then push it out front.  The pins that hold cylinder together are peened in there, and you can carefully file the edges and try to slide the lock plate over them.  I didn't do a good job at this, and broke one pin.  On reassembly I ended up drilling out the pin and putting a tiny screw in its place, and ground off head.

Once its apart, you want to see if theres an obvious jam to fix (like the part mentioned by mike).  In my case it was just the brass wafers/tumblers getting sloppy and jammed up.  You want to clean them up good and lube them with dry graphite powder.  You also want to file edges of brass tumblers/wafers so that they'll lay flush with the cylinder when the key is inserted, and allow cylinder to rotate.  If they're sticking out when a key is in there, thats gonna jam it.  It's a tad delicate work, but certainly do-able.  When you're done, you'll have a smoother operating key than ever. 

Edited July 27, 2014 by KFunk

[jgerock]

Here is the back of the ignition lock where the electrical portion fits.

For some reason, I cannot remove the lock cylinder from the column. I tried drilling out the pin but cannot remove it.  My original 69 switch is so messed up you turn it with a screwdriver but cannot insert a key.  

 

I ended up buying a new assembly from BLUNT.

[OriginalOwner]

here's some reading .....

 

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1409766-Removal-of-Ignition-Tumbler

 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/144275-how-to-remove-ignition-lock-with-hammer-punch/  

 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/142484-ignition-switch-wont-turn-options/  

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

[landon]

Thanks for all the info.  I attempted to take out the lock cylinder yesterday - first by trying to punch the pin up and then by drilling it out. I could not budge that thing. After looking at the switch itself I realized that the 4 stops and spring action all come from the switch and not the cylinder. The switch seemed a little sticky so I lubed things up. I added some more graphite lube into the key cylinder and found the cylinder rotating OK. Put it all together again and I have had good operation all day. The cylinder may still have a problem internally but for now it's all working.   

[Mike Self]

Hi Landon

I see that Kevin already sent you the column I wrote on dismantling/repairing old, worn/broken ignition switches.  If you didn't get it, send me a message and I'll send you a copy. 

 

BTW, the lock on my '69 is worn enough that I can remove the key while the engine is running...but it still functions just fine.

 

mike

 

Edited July 28, 2014 by mike