I finally convinced a mechanic to attempt the repair following the instructions I printed from this forum and it worked - cost me $264 instead of $1400 and a 2 to 3 month wait for Germany to send parts. The mechanic actually thanked me for letting him learn how to do it.

 

ok I finally got it !!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! Saved me sooooo much money!!! I will say if you key doesnt turn, expect a fight with that damn pin!!! thank you everyone for contributing to this thread. Id love to share a fine bottle of scotch with you

 

Just wanted to post a big thanks on the forum for this solution. Saved a ton of cash, a towing bill and it only took a couple of hours. And I was one of those where the key didn't even turn. Thanks to the forum. it does now!!!

Thank you.

David

 

Rekcah, Pizzaguy and Forum Friends,
Thank you so very much for getting me out of the "key want turn" situation I was in. Pizza, sorry for posting this so late, but life as you know gets pretty crazy.

My Xfire got stuck at Kroger at midnight one night on the way home from work. Key would not turn and I got blisters trying to get it to. I posted a PM to Pizza and he replied the next morning with a lot of encouragement. Later that day, he answered some questions I had and was able to help me on the phone again another time. This is what makes a forum great.. People like Rekcah and Pizzaguy who share their valuable knowledge.. we are truly blessed to have all of you on this forum who share so much with others in need of help!!!! A Big Thank You To All.

Long story short: Printed out the instructions from this forum with the pictures, Thank you for Rekcah that posting!!! The only thing I would say is the drill thing did not work for me at all, but the Dremel worked great!!! Took all of 2 minutes to grind the button with the Dremel Tool. If not for that... who knows. One more note, be sure when you call a wrecker that they are coming with dollies if you have a A/T Xfire. With key not turning, you can not get the car out of Park, which has your back wheels locked... if the wrecker company says they'll drag the car onto the flat bed, hang up and keep dialing until you get one that has dollies!!!!

Thanks again to all, now my key works great! Oh, I opted for the "permanent" fix rather than new parts.

Happy Easter to All !!!
David U. (CaptDave)

 

The maker knew of that problem of the locked auto transmission so they provided the tool that when inserted into the shifter area unlocks the tranny, enabling the car to be put into neutral.
A screw driver works just as well for this operation. See the owners handbook for complete instructions. Also see the do's and don'ts on towing the car.

 

How did I miss that? I know - I was under the impression that only worked when the Brake switch failed to release the shift.... it got passed me that the same solenoid released the shift, with inputs from the switch AND brake pedal.

DUH!

 

Does anyone have this Sticky Ignition KEY Fix with the PICS. I thought I printed this out before, but can't find it.

 

see my sig

 

rekcah:
Thanks for the quick feedback. Got it, thanks.

 

Okay, so maybe someone can help me. I am one of the lucky people who's key will not turn at all and I worked through the steps to the point of drilling out the pin found after step 10 in the PDF that is a great piece of work (unlike this ignition system) and my key still will not turn. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The link in your sig points back to this page???
Am I missing something? Is this a BLACK Crossfire joke perhaps!?
Figured I'd print it out also. REAL link please!

 

Found it!

LINKY to PDF file HERE!

 

The link in my Sig should point to post number 189 in this thread where I uploaded the pdf.

@landplan. Did u open the little hatch and remove the pin&spring?

 

Sends me right back to this page????
Anyone else?

 

I found the pictures and complete PDF file in post #83 on page 5. I did the fix this past weekend. There are no shorts cuts; follow the instructions step by step. The tumblers must come out and the large electric connector must come off. There is not enough room to remove the "switch" without following those steps as numbered. It took me four hours.

 

Thanks for the write-up...the pdf was perfect.

Drilling out that pin took the majority of the time and in the process I knocked loose the little spring loaded trim piece that rests below the steering column trim...no big deal as my wheel is pushed back pretty far anyway...

Now the XF is back on the road and I can sit the 420SEL for a bit...

 

Thanks man!
Worked out perfectly.
Car was dead in the water (on the street).
Waited till night as I found cooler temps made for easier starts.
Still would not give. Giggled it back for quickly and with no force and click, it turned (10 Min).
Got car home, remove pin and spring, works great.
Peace,
Charliev

 

And yet another owner with a key that simply would not turn - and NO decent mechanics/dealers/etc within several hours' drive to use.

We opted to not replace the entire key/tumbler thingy (hey, I can dig my way around a car; knowing the exact parts names are my husband's domain), and opted to use the 're-using the parts' option listed on The Sticky of All Stickies. Perhaps, though, things never go easy for me - I simply could not drill the pin while the entire thingy was still inside the dash. So taking into account a rather quick note that another poster had mentioned, I used my drill to create a 'canal' from where the pin was stuck to the 'open canal' area in the sleeve (darn - I know I should've taken pictures), in order to remove the unit from the steering column.

Hubby and I (mostly me, since this is my car) managed to free the unit, and I opted to pretty much disenbowel the unit (removing the 'hole-punch' pin and spring from the back, and then completely removing what was left of the pin I had been drilling for what seemed hours. Car works fine. Mine is a 6-spd, so I always use the parking brake and therefore really don't need to bother with a locking wheel.

It just took me more than the 4+/- hours that most of you take to fix this, and it's probably because I tend to work really slow so I don't drill holes in important things either in the dash or me.

Thanks again for this sticky - I love this forum!

 

I have been dreading this fix, but know I should do it. From what I can make out the real problem is a plastic wheel or gear on the pin that wears out or gets ground up when the steering wheel locks over time. Does anyone know about this part? Can we get another made out of metal instead of plastic /or get a new plastic part and replace the bad part? Maybe it is just very hard to get it out, I don't know. This should never be happening as the part is really not used or put into action that much that it should wear out. Any comments???

 

In my admittedly painful experience, there is NO plastic in this piece. The entire unit is actually quite hefty, and I went through 2 'ball-shaped' drill bits (for metal) before I was able to drill a path from the stuck pin to the 'sleeve' in order to remove the unit. I wasn't able to push down in the pin and then pull the entire unit to the left to remove the unit, so I had to drill a new pathway since trying to drill the pin flat was almost impossible in such tight quarters. And for all this, a Dremel was absolutely useless. Had to use my lovely Christmas present, a super-charged drill!! And several drill bits.

Maybe it's in the way this unit is designed. When I removed the whole unit, I though that as soon as I could open the spring access cover in the 'back' of the unit, the dreaded retaining pin would pop right out...nope. It's not exactly behind the small panel, but almost set up like gears. So I removed the rear panel, making sure that both my face and DHs was away when the spring launched itself somewhere across our front lawn, removed the little doohickey that sat behind it, then went back to the almost-drilled down retaining pin when that lovely piece of metal slipped out. (I have plans to add the small pieces to our Wall Of Pain in our (actually DH's) garage where we showcase any and all mechanical/electrical nightmares we have survived). These little gems are going next to the shot rotors from my old BMW 323.

My car, an '04, has almost 109K on it, and it's my DD, so perhaps this part was due to wear out anyway.

Now, I have to deal with a dying alternator...it never ends...