dbenzmaine Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 So here's the deal. Yesterday my brother went out to move the car across the street (stupid alternate side parking rules in NYC) and made a bit of a mistake. My 89 EA-81 hatchback GL had it's ignition replaced back in the late 90's, so it has separate keys for the doors and the ignition. He managed to put the door key into the ignition and turn it to the "on" position. It didn't go any farther than that, and it also wouldn't turn back or pull out. So i've got a GL with the door key in the ignition with it stuck on the "on" position. No amount of jiggling or WD-40 has made any progress on it. Local Brooklyn locksmiths are quoting $60 to $70 to fix it, and i'm cheap! After my brother placed some frantic calls to me (he of course couldn't lock the car and leave since his door key was stuck in the ignition) i headed out there and we pushed the car to a parking space that's legal until Tuesday morning. We disconnected the battery to avoid draining it, and now we're trying to figure out what to do next. I'm heading to Maine on Tuesday night, and i know people there who wouldn't rip me off. I could roll-start it and just drive it up there without ever shutting it off. I'm not crazy about this option though, since the throttle has stuck once or twice before, and i'd be in a bad way if it happened without me being able to shut off the engine. Does anybody know any tricks for extracting a miss-fit key from an ignition? Thanks in advance for any advice! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 You may have to remove the cylinder to get the key out. Its a PITA, sorry. What you could do in the meantime is remove the plastic cowling from around the steering colume and on the right side of the ign you will see the relay. Theres 2 small screws that hold it on, remove these and it will come off. You can then turn the cars ign on and off this way and yes, start it also. I've been driving my 86 wagon like this for a while cause the cylinder crapped out on me. And I've been to lazy to fix it Replace all the plastic and tuck the relay under it but with easy access so you can turn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbenzmaine Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Thanks Turbone! The PITA part wasn't what i wanted to hear, but as long as there's a way to operate it without too much annoyance, the problem becomes much less urgent. Still, i should probably be nice to the car. It's been through a lot lately. It managed to drive me across the country with my brother and probably 1500 pounds of my friends' (moving to Arizona) stuff in the back / on the roof, then went all the way down the pacific coast of Mexico, up across the middle of Guatemala, through Honduras, all over Nicaragua including two trips all the way across the mountains on a dirt path, a side trip to Costa Rica, and most impressively six months of having my brother be its exclusive driver! EA-81 subies rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 This happend to my EA81. My friend used the key to my 78 on my 84 and got it stuck in there with the key in the ON position. I was unable to move the key, but using some vice grips I yanked it out of the ignition (in order to drive my 78) but the ignition was still stuck in the on position. So i pulled the underside of my steering column, and disconnected the wiring harness connector from the ignition to keep my battery from draining. Then everytime I wanted to start my car, i would just plug the connection back together, and short 2 terminals on the back of the ignition itself (where the wires are soldered). That would crank the starter, and when the car was started it would remain running Pain in the rump roast, but it was cheap. Has been working to this day. -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Not quit the same same kind of story but along the same lines...my brother in law had an 84 EA81 sedan back when he was in college in the early 90's and still had the ignition key from it. His ignition in that car had gotten so worn down that he could start the car, pull the key out, lock the doors and go inside again to let the car warm up. So naturally he wanted to see if that same key would start my car. And wouldn't ya know it it did. We didnt have a probem with it getting stuck though. Just got lucky i guess. The key wouldnt work the door locks though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 wife got my impreza key stuck in the 83 a few months back. I took a pair of long needle nose pliers and put them right at the edge of the key (just outside the tumbler) and in one quick snap i cranked the key backwards (like I was turning it off) and poof it went back and even came right out. (yeah I was lucky). Atleast your car wasn't running like mine was... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbenzmaine Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Well, the problem is now dealt with! I got a couple of friends to help me roll start it last week, and i made the drive up to Maine without ever shutting it off. No problem. The next day I went about figuring out how to fix it. After taking off the plastic on the steering column, i got a look at how everything works. The barrel that the key goes into is just a simple locking mechanism like any other. It feeds into a switch that's mounted on the left side of the column. That switch can be taken off with a screwdriver (two dinky little screws). Basically it has a little slot in the plastic center portion that is activated by a little metal tab that feeds into the locking mechanism. Once they're pulled apart, you can put the ignition in any position you want simply by sticking a screwdriver in the switch and turning it! So i drilled a big hole in the console plastic over by where the passenger's legs go, and i mounted the switch over there. There's plenty of excess length on the wiring to it, so it wasn't a problem. I just had to add in some wire on my manual radiator fan switch (i love my manual fan switch! subie thermoswitches and me just don't get along). So now i can start or stop my car with a screwdriver and a quick lean over to the passenger side. Life is good! That's one of the beautiful things about driving an old subie. I don't have to make it work the way it's supposed to. I just have to make it work for me! Thanks for the tips everyone. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Thanks Turbone! The PITA part wasn't what i wanted to hear, but as long as there's a way to operate it without too much annoyance, the problem becomes much less urgent. Still, i should probably be nice to the car. It's been through a lot lately. It managed to drive me across the country with my brother and probably 1500 pounds of my friends' (moving to Arizona) stuff in the back / on the roof, then went all the way down the pacific coast of Mexico, up across the middle of Guatemala, through Honduras, all over Nicaragua including two trips all the way across the mountains on a dirt path, a side trip to Costa Rica, and most impressively six months of having my brother be its exclusive driver! EA-81 subies rock! ooo...Nicaragua!!!! my dad is from there. he came here in 84' and became a citizen in 1998. anyway congrats on your fix. my dad broke his key the other day in my wagon but lucky for him he took it out with his finger since the broken 1/2 was still sticking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Well, the problem is now dealt with! I got a couple of friends to help me roll start it last week, and i made the drive up to Maine without ever shutting it off. No problem. The next day I went about figuring out how to fix it. After taking off the plastic on the steering column, i got a look at how everything works. The barrel that the key goes into is just a simple locking mechanism like any other. It feeds into a switch that's mounted on the left side of the column. That switch can be taken off with a screwdriver (two dinky little screws). Basically it has a little slot in the plastic center portion that is activated by a little metal tab that feeds into the locking mechanism. Once they're pulled apart, you can put the ignition in any position you want simply by sticking a screwdriver in the switch and turning it! So i drilled a big hole in the console plastic over by where the passenger's legs go, and i mounted the switch over there. There's plenty of excess length on the wiring to it, so it wasn't a problem. I just had to add in some wire on my manual radiator fan switch (i love my manual fan switch! subie thermoswitches and me just don't get along). So now i can start or stop my car with a screwdriver and a quick lean over to the passenger side. Life is good! That's one of the beautiful things about driving an old subie. I don't have to make it work the way it's supposed to. I just have to make it work for me! Thanks for the tips everyone. Dave Glad you got it figured out. Quote---- You may have to remove the cylinder to get the key out. Its a PITA, sorry. What you could do in the meantime is remove the plastic cowling from around the steering colume and on the right side of the ign you will see the relay. Theres 2 small screws that hold it on, remove these and it will come off. You can then turn the cars ign on and off this way and yes, start it also. I've been driving my 86 wagon like this for a while cause the cylinder crapped out on me. And I've been to lazy to fix it Replace all the plastic and tuck the relay under it but with easy access so you can turn it. Your welcome. I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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