Greetings to the Group!

I am looking for a bit of advice from folks that may have "been there and done that."
We own a '89 260E which is a great first car for the kids. On Monday they took the car to work, on the way they stopped for gas. That's when I got the call - "Dad the car won't start..." Needless to say I stopped by the filling station and began working the issue. Indeed the car would not start since the ignition switch was locked up tight! I did move the gear selector from Park to Neutral a few times to no avail. While in park I did try rocking the car - sometimes the extra weight the doc wants me to lose does come in handy. I noticed the car did roll quite a bit, about a whole foot whilst in Park. I placed the car back in Neutral and pushed it a few feet, once it stopped rolling I placed the gear select into Park. At that point I was able to turn the key, and the car came to life.
I was able to drive the car ALMOST all the way home. Exactly 1.1 miles from the house the car died - no warning. I made a right turn and was accelerating when the entire dash lit up and the motor stopped running.
Luckily I placed the trans in Neutral and was able to coast into a parking lot. So now the car is sitting in the lot and the key will not turn, again. The car is Park and there is no rolling it, it does roll in neutral. I cannot tow/push/pull it home since the steering wheel is locked. I am trying to avoid spending on a tow that is literally 1.1 miles

Only after this experience was I told that we did experience the "hard to turn key" phenomenon a few times this summer. Ironic - Dad is always last to know...

Any suggestions as to how I can cure it's current immobility? After all the poking around I have not found a solution to removing the ignition switch AFTER it seizes up...
Gotta love it.

Thanks in advance.

Well, this is kinda late, you may have already found a solution.
The whole key to easy replacement of the ignition lock cylinder is whether the switch can be turned ON. If it's jammed in the off position, then it must be totally taken apart, super-hard steel drilled out, etc. If it is still ON or can be juggled/lubricated enough to get it to turn one more time, then it gets pretty easy. There are several tutorials herein on how to make a little steel rod (a coat hanger works for some) to slide in the slot on the switch when it is turned ON and just pop the switch out.
I've found they vary by year, but do some research here and see if you can fine the write-up on your specific model. For my '91 you take a coat hanger and grind an angle in the end, slide it into a slot alongside the key and work it down to release a little lever. Takes a bit of fiddling, but it works. Buy a new lock cylinder and take a look at it, gets easy to understand then.

Good luck.

Not to late! Thanks for the tip. I have lubed the tumbler and try to jiggle it a bit every day just to get a quarter turn out of it. I have found instructions on how to remove the tumbler using a "shop tool" which as it turns out is a piece of wire. I am hoping to get one more turn out of it sometime soon to align it for easy removal since I will be drilling it out as a last resort. I do appreciate the response, Thanks again.

Any one have information regarding what size and type of drill bits I need in case I do have to go that route?

do this immediately...you do not want to go the drill route....

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Thanks, I keep trying to get it to turn, so far no luck.
Fortunately we do not need to depend on the car for daily use.

I just hope one more turn is in the cards!

Thank you.

Update:

It has been several months and I need to update the status of my stuck tumbler.
It has been replaced! However replacing it was interesting. In the end I decided to use a dremel tool to cut the anti theft collar off of the tumbler to enable the removal of the tumbler.
I appreciate the suggestions from the group however my tumbler was stuck - lube, vibration and other options were tried several times without success. When I attempted to drill out the tumbler it resulted in a broken drill bit - and the broken tip was stuck in the tumbler. What a bone headed move...in the end persistence paid off