Steering lock repair
 

After having the nightmare of my key locking up and a new tumbler not repairing it.......

Curiosity got the best of me.

"Warning: a steering lock assembly was destroyed in the process of making this pictorial"
make sure you have a spare on hand before attempting

The first few pictures will give you an idea of how it works and the locks to remove the barrel assembly

Note: your ignition switch , stop switch and cam will have to be removed to disengage the barrel lock
Also gently push with your finger on the back and you will feel the lock other wise the lock tab will break off

Now these next few are what keep us awake at night until the key
turns again or we grind out the whole assembly


This little pin is the thing that haunts your dreams !!!

Notice the wear on the ramp it should travel up.
This was the older one I sacrificed. My newer one was just as bad.

Now for the fix.

After removing the barrel and latch mechanisms. Take a punch and push the pin down then tap it with a hammer. second picture shows the contents.

Clean it up reassemble and reinstall it in your car , easy as that . It turns smooth as butter.

The best part is you still have a steering lock.

Look at the quality of the new parts casting in picture three.

This is why I chose repair over replacement. The pin we removed is to prevent the steering rod from being pushed backwards but I figure if they can do that they still have to start it , so no loss there.

which car was this out of?

Sorry about that. Late night post.

This was on the 81 300SD. The parts car was an 85 300SD.
The 81 had the newly replaced lock assembly and the 85 had the factory one.

The factory one was far superior to the replacement but the outer housing was damaged. the newer parts were a more porous cast and excessive cast slag was left on them. The older one was ground down and smoothed on the excess slag. Therefore I used the new housing and lock bar from the 81 and replaced the barrel portion with the older factory parts out of the 85.

I even reused the older triangle lock for the barrel. The older chrome on this part was better prepared (you could see the copper under coating in the wear area ). The newer one was applied directly over the aluminum and was flaking and chipped. It showed excessive wear.

There is absolutely no difference between the 81 and the 85 all parts interchanged. Not sure on the newer ones though.