Busted ignition - ignition cylinder rod replacement

[rusty_tlc]

A couple of observations;

It is almost impossible to keep the lock "dead bolt" clear with a long screwdriver. I managed to finagle it long enough to get my truck on a flat bed, forget trying to keep it clear while being towed.

There was ABSOLUTELY no pressure on the lock mechanism when mine broke. I just turned it and it snapped. This is not to say that I never turned it with the column locked, it just was not a factor when mine broke. The umpty zillion times I had turned the key with the column locked and unlocked in the past just added up.

Getting the shaft out while the bracket is in the truck is luck of the draw, I can see that in certain positions it may be possible, but overall odds are you should plan on just removing the whole steering column. It is not half as bad as it may sound.

The security screws are a joke. Lose them if you do this job.

 

[spressomon]

Any tips from the master?

Hmmm...'master' eh? Master of what I'm not certain . Reminds me of the ancient skit with John Belushi on Saturday Night Live in 1979...he played the Samurai Baker. Buck Henry, impressed with his baking skills asked him if he was a 'master baker'...well if you didn't see it you can imagine where John Belushi took it from there!

It was great to be in the wake of other's on this one! I followed parnoren's well written instructions (post #33) to the T. Great write up! And it helped watching over Rusty_tlc's shoulder when he did his a couple weeks ago.

I do have a phillips head screw starter that helped when reinserting the two small machine screws that retain the white plastic connector piece to the back of the assembly; but taping the screws to the screwdriver would work too. And having an assortment of phillips screwdrivers including one that's extra long helps with the same screws.

The intermediate shaft on my rig wasn't broken so removal of the intermediate shaft did not require removal of the whole assembly/steering column. I'll throw my original intermediate shaft in the truck for a spare I hope to never need on the trail.

 

[JETTIX2]

What year did they improve the design? I've got an 05.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

One more thing on the list...

 

[re_guderian]

In yet another twist: I just received my ignition lock cylinder ass'y from CDan and it appears there has yet been another re-design from Toyota for the intermediate shaft.

The version I have is different even from the one Rusty_tlc bought from CDan a few weeks ago .

Here's the repost photo from post #81 of this thread for comparison to my apparent nth (maybe 4th gen??) gen design for the intermediate shaft; photo on the right is the shaft that came out of my '99.

2/22/13 edit: After getting my ignition intermediate shaft swapped this morning I realized there are, at least, 4 different castings for this part. FOUR! WTF?!


Not too much to add to the already good instructions posted here. I pulled the lower HVAC cross-over plastic vent housing to gain access to the back side of the assembly (to remove the two brass colored screws that hold the white plastic housing to the bottom/end side of the ignition housing assembly).

I, since my intermediate shaft was not broken, opted to just swap the newer style intermediate shaft without replacing the entire housing. Still befuddles me, given Toyota has been challenged to design this part so it wouldn't self-destruct during normal use, why we just can't purchase the shaft itself... Right now I wish Woody had a smilie like Jon Harris' avatar: Piss'n on the Sombrero!

Post #81 came out of an LX, IIRC. Might there be a slight difference to accomodate for the LX v LC tilt/telescope power feature on the LX v the manual tilt only on the early LC? i.e. an old and a new for both the LX and the LC accounting for the 4 different castings?

 

[spressomon]

^ you might be on to something although I'm fairly certain Rusty_tlc's improved intermediate shaft, ordered about a month before mine, was different than my replacement shaft...he has a '98 LC.

 

[GaFJC]

Hmmm...'master' eh? Master of what I'm not certain . Reminds me of the ancient skit with John Belushi on Saturday Night Live in 1979...he played the Samurai Baker. Buck Henry, impressed with his baking skills asked him if he was a 'master baker'...well if you didn't see it you can imagine where John Belushi took it from there!

Belushi was the best. Another fav of mine was Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy

 

[100surf]

Did anybody have this happen to them? Decided to pull out the whole bracket and replace the whole unit with the new one since we have to buy the whole thing. When I went to reinstall the U bracket that goes on the other side doesn't match to the new one???
Pic on the left is the old one that lined up fine and the right pic is the new one that doesn't F-ing lined up.

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Jon, are you doing this for preventive maintenance or did yours break?

 

[100surf]

preventative, want to come by n see?

 

[100surf]

Updates on ign bracket

Ok figured it out.
45280-60510 are for power tilt LC's
45280-60460 are for manual tilt LC's

 

[OregonLC]

Ok figured it out.
45280-60510 are for power tilt LC's
45280-60460 are for manual tilt LC's

As a side question, does VGRS have any implications to the column or is this handled completely in the rack?

 

[100surf]

whats vgrs?

 

[BonS]

whats vgrs?

Variable Gear Ratio Steering.
http://www.lexus.com.bh/technology_explorer/variable_gear_ratio_steering_VGRS.asp?model=All

 

[nodaksn3]

I replaced mine the other day and without thinking used the anti-theft bolts. The heads sheared off fairly easily (I was using a 1/4" drive wrench set) so, hopefully, if I need to do it again they won't be too bad to get out. Locksmith Charlie here in Phoenix took my first set off. Did a great job too, I must say!
Ned

 

[re_guderian]

I replaced mine the other day and without thinking used the anti-theft bolts. The heads sheared off fairly easily (I was using a 1/4" drive wrench set) so, hopefully, if I need to do it again they won't be too bad to get out. Locksmith Charlie here in Phoenix took my first set off. Did a great job too, I must say!
Ned

With the new design you shouldn't have to ever do it again.

 

[OregonLC]

Getting ready to order these parts as a PM. Anyone who's done it have anything to add besides:

45280-60460 Manual tilt
45897-12020 Break away bolt x2

 

[spressomon]

^ If the part isn't broken you can just swap the shaft without removing the entire bracket. However if you want to replace the whole assembly...you'll have to drill out the existing break-away bolts of course...but I'd just use plain allen bolts instead of the break-aways. Its almost unfathomable a thief would get as far as these bolts if they were trying to steal the truck anyway .

At least you could get it apart in the field if you have to without the break away style bolt heads...

 

[OregonLC]

Were you able to buy just the shaft? Sam at Lowes said it was only as an assembly. Good point re the bolts.

 

[spressomon]

No and that still has me : Toyota/Lexus only sell the entire assembly.

It is certainly irritating to deal with this given it was a Toyota design defect. But infuriating we have to further underwrite Toyota's incompetence as it relates to the poorly designed linkage by being forced to buy the entire assembly at, IMO, an exorbitant amount...just to get the link.

To that end...I feel lucky I didn't have to be in the list of guys that had these fail in the field and deal with the not-so-slight consequences. So I am appreciative to those that have called attention to this defect so we can pre-emptively address it hopefully reducing the chance of failure in some remote and far off location! Rusty_tlc being one I owe a or three!