Thread: MY07+ Defender steering lock ign switch and key barrel

A larger version of this post is on the main Tech Chatter Site for all owners of LR products.

If you want to take your 07+ Defender "remote" I would highly recommend using allen headed bolts to replace the sheared, round thief proof bolts retaining the steering lock.

09MY Deffie and 90 000K. Guess what? Ignition key will not turn after vehicle sitting in sun all day (been little niggles for months) Had to wait for everything to cool off and turn the key in the evening. Is was a case of better get the key barrel done! (previous experience with D1 and D2)

Mmmm, my downloaded 07MY Defender WS manual has no reference for removing steering lock. To get the key barrel one must remove the steering lock! Anyway, remove as much as possible to get access and find that the design has changed slightly. One cannot get a centre punch or chisel onto the round sheared bolt. Only way is drill off the head or an EZYOut.

Now the 07+ Deffie's dash is one big moulding only way to get a drill to the bolt heads without removing the whole dash is through the lower parcel shelf, with the holes later being disguised/covered by the fuse panel door, and the parcel shelf insert. While I manage to get one of the bolts, none of my drills were long enough to get the other one. That's when I quit and took it to a local locksmith.

(Note that the drills I was using were excellent quality HSS Suttons drills and I had to re-sharpen twice.)

As things turned out, it wasn't the key barrel this time, it was the ignition switch itself which had failed, and jammed. Locksmith said the key barrel was in good condition.

Irrespective of what the WS manual says, for Deffie 07+ owners, according to locksmith the ign switch cannot be removed without removing the steering lock!

Upshot/moral of the story. If any part of the steering lock, ignition switch key barrel fails in a post 07 Defender chances are you won't be going anywhere unless you can drop the the steering lock and manipulate the system!

Cheers

RF

Had a similar problem with what would appear to be a jammed ignition barrel.

After a month in a local Toyota dealership with a supposed 'ex-Landrover machanic' looking after it and oodles of help on offer from a reputable Landrover dealership I got frustrated with their lies, incompetence and lack of any progress whatsoever. I ended up having the beloved Defender towed home and have decided to fix the thing myself with the help of a friend who is himself a mechanic who has done this type of thing many times before.

The initial problem was the barrel seizing and not enabling rotation beyond the first ACC position. Just glad it happened in the driveway after a camping trip and not 40kms up a remote beach on the Sunshine Coast.