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Key won't turn in 1990 Aerostar

3K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  R.S.LOGAN 
#1 ·
I want to replace the lock cylinder which apparently I should have already done but now the key won't turn at all and the wheel is locked in place, so I can't turn the key to the run position in order to remove it. Is there some way of working around that?

Thank you for any help!
David
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the suggestion but mine doesn't look like that. There's no hole under the column at all, so there's no place to start. And I haven't been able to find a single thing anywhere that discusses replacing the key lock cylinder in a 1990 Aerostar, much less how to do it when the key won't turn and you can't put it in run. I thought I'd find a LOT of places where people are explaining it, but instead I can't find one.
 
#5 ·
There's a cover plate I removed and then could see the pin to depress. In another forum 65comet recommended this very helpful video about dealing with cylinder problems:



I used the guy's suggestion to tap the key in with a hammer and after that wiggled the steering wheel and got it to go into run position, then depressed the pin and got the old cylinder out. The new one seemed to go in okay but wouldn't turn to the lock position. It seemed to go to run and start positions so I reconnected the battery and tried to start it, hoping then I could turn the wheels enough to have full motion of the new cylinder. But nooooo! It would go to run position and the lights came on, but would not go to start position. I was able to get the new cylinder back out and looked in the hole it fits into in the steering column. There's a rectangular indentation where the end of the lock cylinder goes so I tried turning it with a screwdriver. It's locked up and will not budge. So now what? Does that mean there's something else screwed up in addition to the old lock cylinder problem? Do I now have to try to take the entire steering column apart, and maybe a lot more than that too?
 
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