A few months ago my car was almost stolen. the douche bags couldnt get the car started to steal it. anyways the ignition was punched. i have a new key lock cylinder to put it in in place of the broken one. the problem i have is getting the original key lock cylinder off the steering column.

in the haynes manual it says: "the lock cylinder cant be replaced by itself, the whole housing must be replaced. remove the shear-head bolts retaining the ignition switch/lock cylinder assembly and separate the bracket halves from the steering column. this can be accomplished by drilling out the bolts."

is there any other way to do this? with the dash in place there is not enough room to get at the shear-head bolts to drill them out. i really dont have the time to take my dash out to do this.

PLEASE, and help will be much appreciated.

- Swazey

 

you dont have to remove the whole dash. Just remove the steering wheel covers, the top and bottom ones and you have to drop the steering wheel. There are two large bolts that hold it up. I think they are 17mm or 18mm(?). But you have to remove the panel under the steering wheel. Then you can lower the steering wheel and have room to work.

 

thanks so much. i looked today and say the bolts you are talking about. it was dark last nite and i was getting frustrated.

 

/\/\ i've replaced the lock cyl in a nissan once and you did have to drill out the bolts because they are shear bolts (they have no head). Once you get the top/bottom cover off you should be able to tell where the two bolts are (look at the new one) to see where the bolts are.

 

I know this thread is old but thought this information would be helpful for anyone searching.

You don't need a drill to remove the bolts its actually pretty easy.

All you need is a hammer and a punch with a point.

Use the punch to hit once side of the bolt to make a point to dimple in the bolt and have a surface to grip with the punch. Now that you have a dimpled part of the bolt angle the punch and continue hitting the bolt in a counterclockwise motion. The bolt will start to loosen to the point where you can turn it with just the punch.


It works, I used to work at nissan/infiniti and we did it all the time less mess and no chance of damaging anything.

 

Drill - FTW - Less then 30 seconds to do.

 

I had the same question but just wasnt sure of my own answer. Thanks for confirming my conclusion.