Mosin Nagant

Here is what happened. I was at work today and went out to the car on my break. I went to start it and saw that half of my key was broken off. I do not have a spare. I am guessing that my key caught on something at work and broke because I think I would have noticed if it had broke off in the ignition. Also I could not see a piece of the key in the ignition. My car is now sitting at work and I need a way to start it to get it home to work on it or scrap it and get a different car. With the condition the car is in it is not worth putting more money into. Also I only paid $200 for the car two years ago and drove it almost everyday so I think I got my moneys worth out of it. My car is a 91 in case that matters.

From some reading I have done online it looks like it might be possible on some cars to drill out the lock pins in the ignition and turn it with a screwdriver. I have also read about people drilling out the whole cylinder to start it with a screwdriver. I thought about replacing the cylinder but I couldn't find one cheaper than $100+ and I don't want to put that much money into the car. Also I doubt any local auto parts stores will have the part in stock and I have to get the car home in the next day or two or they will get upset with me at work and I don't want to pay $100+ to have it towed .

So my plan is to take a drill to work tomorrow and try to drill out the lock pins and/or the whole cylinder and try to start it with a flat head screwdriver. Is there anything in the locking mechanism that would prevent this? If I do this what size/type of drill bit would you recommend? What is the best way to do this? Are there any better options that wont cost a lot of money and can be done right away tomorrow? I appreciate any advice anyone could give me.

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Rock Auto has Beck/Arnley new ignition switches WITH keys on closeout right now for $26. I would strongly suggest just doing that long term. I understand you don't want to spend $100, but $26 seems very reasonable to me.

As far as drilling out the lock cylinder, I'm not even sure you have to bother with that. I see it all the time at work - people routinely steal vehicles in seconds by just jamming flat head screwdrivers into the ignition switch and turning them. Granted, these are almost always big domestic trucks - but I assume that for the most part an ignition switch is an ignition switch.

If you do decide to drill it, I would start small and go bigger if necessary. Maybe start with a drill bit just a little bit wider than the key opening and work up from there as needed.

Good luck with it

Mosin Nagant

Unfortunately I need to get my car started today. The auto parts store doesn't even have the ignition in stock. I tried jamming a flathead in last night. It moved just a little bit to the point where it made the tone you hear when a key is in but wouldn't go any further. If I do drill it shuould I just try to drill out the pin in the cylinder or the whole cylinder?

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

I'm not really sure to be honest - I would *think* just the pin because if you drill the whole thing I'm not sure that it would then turn or do anything if it's all hollowed out.

At this point you might be better off hot wiring it?

Mosin Nagant

I thought about hot wiring it but I would still need to unlock the steering wheel somehow. If I can get the ignition cylinder cheap online I might do that and replace it but I still need to get the car home today so I think for now I will attempt to drill out the lock pin. I found this article here that talks about methods for hot wring. That is where I got the idea to drill the lock pin. It is a general article and is not specific to my car so I wanted to see if anyone here knows how the ignition cylinder on this car works and if drilling is a good option.

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

So your flat head jammed into the cylinder wasn't enough to unlock it? I guess in that case then you are kind of stuck even if you hot wire it.

Unfortunately this forum is dead and I can't imagine anybody left here has ever drilled and/or hot wired one of these cars. Our cars also have a factory alarm (unless you've disabled it) that may put a kink in hot wire plans. I'm not certain of that though since I've never been in this sort of territory of having to do anything like this on my car.

Regarding the flat head, I assume you have to jam it in there pretty hard. As an (assumed ) non-thief I suspect you may just be underestimating the force it requires. But that's just my speculation from reading/seeing this stuff at work.

Mosin Nagant

Well here is what happened today. I tried unsuccessfully to drill the lock pins. After i mangled the ignition cylinder with a drill my friend found a key code in my glove box. We called a locksmith and sure enough they were able to make a key for $15 (you would think the 2 dealerships I called would know about the key code in the glove box). Unfortunately the key did not work due to all the drilling I did. However I took the biggest drill bit I had and hollowed out the cylinder then jammed a screwdriver in the back of what was left. I can now start my car with a flat head screw driver. I am considering replacing the ignition eventually. Does anyone have any instructions on how to do this?