Ignition switch replacement

[stevemac 0]

emax, Are you just replacing the electrical switch ??

[emax 0]

Hi stevemac, yes, just the switch, nothing else.

[stevemac 0]

Hi stevemac, yes, just the switch, nothing else.

 

1. Remove steering wheel

2. Remove both upper & lower plastic cowls

3. Unscrew steering lock switch securing screw, using tiniest phillips screwdriver on planet. This screw may not easily be visible - it screws the switch to the alloy lock housing from behind - hence the need for a tiny screwdriver.

4. Switch will now pull away from the back of the lock housing. Change the switch & have fun trying to get the tiny screw back in !!

 

If you still have the original steering lock key barrel fitted, I would advise that you replace the whole assembly as per above post. When your key barrel evenually "collapses", you'll need to change the whole lot anyway. Mine collapsed completely at 86,000 miles !! More expensive but well worth considering.

[Henny 0]

just made this a sticky... 8)

[greegs 0]

I changed mine on sunday took 20 mins to complete the job. Much better now and I don't have to wiggle my immobiliser transponder key about anymore as I repositioned the aerial. The only piece of trim I removed was the lower shroud around steering column. No need to remove wheel. Piece of piss !!

[whiteee 0]

Cheers boys n gals... ordered my switch wednesday nite and arrived this morning - friday (all on cheapo normal delivery) cost about £13 including vat n delivery.

 

Sat morning to fit it and hopefully i can start my car without having to push it!

 

New to the whole corrado (and volkswagen) scene... always been a ford lad - yeah yeah...

 

jus think this is a really helpful forum and glad to b a part of the "C" community!

[emax 0]

Thanks a lot guys, sounds pretty easy so I might even give it a stab myself rather than fork out for the mechanic to do it. Cheers.

[whiteee 0]

GOOD NEWS!

Fitted as per guide (albeit i didnt remove seat just lay upside down for 5 minutes... not comfy cos im 6foot3 but i was too lazy to take seat out... :lol: )

 

BAD NEWS!

Still no joy with starting... exactly the same as before! :(

[kongo127 0]

Is it that simple to replace the ignition switch? :roll:

Any thief could do that so easily... :shock:

Now i am worried, even with an alarm system!

[dr_mat 0]

But how is replacing the ignition switch going to help someone who's trying to hotwire your car?

Any decently-fitted alarm system will cut circuits buried deep behind the dashboard, it will have little or nothing to do with the ignition switch..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

But how is replacing the ignition switch going to help someone who's trying to hotwire your car?

Any decently-fitted alarm system will cut circuits buried deep behind the dashboard, it will have little or nothing to do with the ignition switch..

 

Drop your steering column cowling and see where the alarm fitters tapped into.

[dr_mat 0]

I have two immobilisers...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Doesn't matter how many you've got, they're easily tracable. All an alarm/immobiliser does is stall the burglar for time. If a committed and professional thief wants a car, he *will* take it, regardless.

 

2 immobilisers should confuse and deter the oppurtunist though.

[dr_mat 0]

I know, I'm under no illusions. That's why I also have a feck-off great big wheel lock too.. :)

 

Not that that does anything other than force them to tow the thing away.. (Which is hard in my street!)

[Henny 0]

I've seen recently that around Manchester (and Stoke) some theives have a Hiab 4 point lift to nick new cars with... :?

 

There's sod all you can do against one of those things... :roll: alarms, imobilisers, steering locks etc etc etc are sod all use when they simply pick the car up and walk off with it... :? I suppose you could always chain it to a lamppost though! ;) :lol:

 

(Hiab 4 point lifts are the flat back lorries with the crane which attaches to all 4 wheels and lifts the car straight up and onto the back of the lorry like the parking meter enforcers use to tow away cars... :? )

[whiteee 0]

i want a hiab... not to steal cars... but cos those lorries weigh a ton (or to be precise about 6 i think... prob more! wait a mo that aint precise!) BUT then they cudnt steal my hiad using theres! i beat the thieves!!! all i need now is about £100k to buy one :roll: :lol:

[Henny 0]

you can get 'em less than that... you're looking about 4K for a second hand one with interstellar milage... ;) Thinking of getting myself one 'cos of the number of times my C has broken down in the last year... :? :roll: :lol:

[whiteee 0]

Nah knowing my luck it would breakdown... at least new one would be under warranty! :lol:

[Henny 0]

that'd be the ultimate irony wouldn't it... breaking down in a break down truck! :lol: :roll:

[emax 0]

Hi there,

 

Firstly thanks to stevemac and the rest for the instructions when I posted about ignition switch replacement a while back.

 

In the end I put it into the garage yesterday to get it done purely because my girlfriend is late on in her pregnancy and I didn't want the car to let me down etc + I have enough to worry about with all that, and a house move next tuesday.

 

I told the mechanic that I'd been on the forum and that it was a 20 min job to replace when I dropped it off - I wish now that I had tried to do it myself:

 

I just called and got his junior mechanic (he was apparently out at the time).

 

Apparently, they've been working on it most of the day and it has been a b****rd of a job.

 

The car isn't ready but will be ready for collection tomorrow morning.

 

The guy says that there are two types of ignition layouts on the Corrado and mine was the more complex one seemingly.

 

Firstly, is this true? My car is a 1994 VR6?

 

Secondly, if this guy has ripped me off, is there anything I can do? For example. an engineer's report looking at the work done and assessing how long it should have taken? Who would I go to to dispute this anyway?

 

If it was incompetence on the part of the garage and not a blatant attempt to rip me off, do I take this on the chin or what?

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts that people have on this, particularly into the issue of there potentially being two different types of ignition switch and all that.

 

I'll never use my local mechanic again on the basis of this. I would have gone to Star Performance but because of everything else going on and because I didn't think that an ignition switch would trouble a standard mechanic, I took it somewhere local.

 

Any help much appreciated.

[Henny 0]

the actual switch is the same on ALL Corrados... :|

[emax 0]

Hi Henny, if the switch is the same that's one thing, is there a different ignition layout between models/years? That is what they're claiming. Is there anything I can do if they have ripped me off? For example, if they charge me 5 hrs labour, can I take it elsewhere to have a report on the work done to assess if there has been any foul play?

 

Also, is there any authoritative body in the motor trade that any incidents should be reported to?

[RadoAds 0]

Just trading standards im afraid, but then again mention trading standards to any "proper" business and they should sort your problem asap, the hassle that trading standards can cause to a business is just not worth thinking about :(

[Henny 0]

I'm as near as certain as I can be that the switch can be replaced in the same way as I descibed on page one of this thread on ALL RHD Corrados (and probably LHD too, but I've never worked on one of them, so I can't comment with any conviction) The only things which may have a slight difference are Automatics (may have a lock out in there somewhere to stop you trying to start the car in gear), ones without an adjustable steering column, (although I can't see that making a significant difference to the ignition switch area) and late ones with the immobiliser transpoder chip in the key, although this shouldn't affect the switch due to it being well away from where the transponder's receiver is... :|

 

Looking through this thread, there are comments and tips from people with all sorts of Corrados who have followed the guidelines I wrote, or used them as a basis to be able to do the job themselves... No one yet has said that they don't work or that they can't do it that way... :|

 

Personally, I'd print out a copy of the how-to, and take it in with you... Ask them exactly what they did and how they did it and if they can't/won't explain, ask how it can take that much time to follow those instructions... :|

 

Good luck mate... hope you get it sorted out without too much hassle/cost... 8)

[emax 0]

Thanks for the advice Henny, I'll do just that. I wish I had left the instructions in the car when I dropped it off but I didn't want to patrionise the bloke!!