Troubleshooting stuck key in ignition (FZJ80) (1 Viewer)

[COYS]

The other day I experienced the stuck key in ignition thing for the first time. Super frustrating. At the time, the only way I could get the key out of the ignition to go about my day was to disconnect the battery (negative terminal) to get the key released from the ignition.

Lock <-> ACC <-> On <-> Start

It wasn't the steering wheel lock thing. It wasn't an accidental brain fart of leaving shifter not in P. The key would simply be stuck at "ACC" when I had to get to "Lock" to free the key like I've been doing for the past 30K miles on my 80.

Having never had reason to acknowledge the existence of a shifter linkage let alone seen one, I took some pics below to see if there was anything loose below. Everything felt tight, but just for shts and giggles I undid a bolt to retighten it just in case something was amiss after 260K miles of life. I also WD40ed all the joints just in case. I also bought graphite lube for the first time in my life dry powdering the keyhole for posterity.

Below is a wide angle iPhone lens shot of the shifter linkage. Pls excuse the grease splatter as I had just pampered the u-joints and slip yokes with fresh Valvoline Palladium (drivetrain is tight again!).

I'm pointing at the bolt that I thought maybe was a little loose (it wasn't) and just retorqued it.

Noticed that rubber gasket there is crusty old. Would love a part # to replace it, but access seems tricky for a novice mechanic like yours truly. The backside is some sort of tie clip.

So after pretty much doing very little to change the variables to produce the desired result which is to get the key to release like normal, I eventually figured out how to get the key to release on repeat.

All I have to do in my case is to push the shifter toward dash while it's in P a few degrees further than normal and the key releases every time. No pounding. No going from P to N to 2 and back. Just push the shifter forward a little beyond norm while in P with a small amount of extra muscle.

I'd love some input on what would fix this so the key releases without having to push the shifter forward. I'm headed to the garage now to see if I can get that nut to adjust in the elongated hole in pic above.

 

[ajax1]

I had a 95 do the same thing, smacked the shifter in park which then released the key. I learned to make sure to always firmly push the shifter into park and never had a issue for the next 7 years of my friend owning the truck. He never had an issue. So I never looked into it. Just shift it firmly into park. I would pull the shifter console and clean around that area and all connections

 

[COYS]

Update w/ resolution:

Moved the adjustment nut to the right a smidge in relation to the elongated adjustment hole. After testing a few times, even with just a gentle move into P, the key releases per normal op. I'll update the thread if this issue rears its ugly, super inconvenient head again.

Hope this helps the mechanically uninclined (me) to troubleshoot with an easy first go at it.

Again, big thanks to @midfat and @NorCalFJ100 for the humor & help.

 

[COYS]

I had a 95 do the same thing, smacked the shifter in park which then released the key. I learned to make sure to always firmly push the shifter into park and never had a issue for the next 7 years of my friend owning the truck. He never had an issue. So I never looked into it. Just shift it firmly into park. I would pull the shifter console and clean around that area and all connections

Thx for sharing, but that's not an acceptable outcome for me. I want to be able to shift into P without any extra force or machinations. No Akon smack thats to an inanimate object necessary.

 

[concretejungle]

this is a big help as I had this happen over the weekend! I kind of thought either my linkage needs to be adjusted or I have an ignition that is screwed. The linkage adjustment seems like the easiest try.

Sitting at a hot rest stop on the side of the interstate and not being able to get your key out to go inside was a little frustrating and I did not feel like climbing under the lava hot truck to lay on lava hot asphalt either!

 

[COYS]

this is a big help as I had this happen over the weekend! I kind of thought either my linkage needs to be adjusted or I have an ignition that is screwed. The linkage adjustment seems like the easiest try.

Sitting at a hot rest stop on the side of the interstate and not being able to get your key out to go inside was a little frustrating and I did not feel like climbing under the lava hot truck to lay on lava hot asphalt either!

I’m glad I could actually be of help for once. No issues since.

 

[brantshali]

Because I'm too lazy to search (but at least I'm honest?), what size is that stupid nut? Would love to have the right tool in hand before laying out on the street to adjust it. Thanks in advance.

 

[brantshali]

The answer to my own question is 12mm.