Thread: Ignition Barrel

My 93 Rangie has already had the ignition replaced once, (different key to the doors)

Anyway, it has always been a bit fiddly to get the key and turn the ign on.

On Sunday we were up in Kinglake clearing trees and when moving the rangie after using it to block the road to drop trees, the ignition barrel failed, the spring would push the key back to ACC instead of just IGN, so you had to hold the key to keep the engine running.

After pulling the cover apart, i managed to get it so the spring was inactive, ie. once you start the engine, you have to manually move the key back to IGN so that i could drive home.


Is the barrel a know weak link or is my rangie cursed with some ignition barrel disease?

I have had similar problems recently in my 1985. After a roll-over in 2001 I also replaced the ignition lock and had all doors re-keyed to the new ignition key, wasn't all that expensive from an automotive lock specialist rather than a regular locksmith. (He was found by talking to my local smash repairer.)

However back to the problem at hand, I was late for work when I was unable to turn on the ignition, even the usual tricks failed. In desperation I resorted to something one should never do to a lock - I used WD40 and it has been easy ever since. I'm thinking that I'll now have to apply regular sprays to clean out any grit and keep it in the easy mode.

Diana