[alanaslan]

Originally Posted by Blink

I've now got the original barrel back in. It took 40 minutes and over ten attempts.

Here's what I've learnt (and haven't learnt).


Releasing barrel from steering column

The barrel is held in place by the spring-loaded locking arm which locates in a groove running round the inside of the column socket. (NB. This groove is not visible in any of my pics). When the ignition key is at position 1, the paperclip lines up with the hole in the locking arm - the arm retracts as the clip slides into the hole. Once the arm is clear of the groove the barrel can be withdrawn from the column.




Refitting barrel to steering column

This is what I did and it eventually worked.

Using a flat screwdriver turn the rectangular hole in the centre of the column socket anti-clockwise as far as it will go. Make a mental note of the angle of the hole.



This is the steering lock ring - it's spring-loaded. Push it towards the centre of the car with a screwdriver and turn the steering wheel until the steering lock is off - the ring will not spring outwards again.



Take the ignition key out of the barrel. Push the white plunger back into the barrel until it locks and doesn't spring out again.

Offer the barrel up to the column and rotate until the raised section (1st pic below) lines up with the 'keyway' in the socket (2nd pic below).

Without changing the barrel position, rotate the transponder ring so that the connector is in between these two lugs (3rd pic below).







Push the barrel into the socket making sure the arm retracts as the barrel goes in (the arm may need helping with a flat screwdriver) - keep pushing the barrel with one hand.

This is the tricky bit. With the other hand put the ignition key in and turn slowly until you feel the rectangular protrusion (arrowed below) line up with the rectangular hole in the column socket. As soon as the two are in line the barrel will go all the way in and the locking arm will spring out into the groove - the barrel is now locked in.




What I haven't learnt

1. Why the key jammed up in the first place.
2. Where has the keyhole dust cover gone.
3. Whether this barrel is faulty or not.
4. Whether this barrel can be trusted - i.e. will the steering lock come on when it shouldn't and/or will the key jam up again.

Going by the condition of the lock in the pictures the lock needs a good clean I would recommend a product called Cabba Lock Cleaner used to come in a small yellow pump can with blue writing on it. spraying deep into the lock then sliding the key out wiping it clean a dozen or so times then spray it again and repeat until the lock is clean and free moving. If you also put a couple of pumps into the door barrel and the boot barrel if you have one.
This product is magic we came across it about fifty years ago when we were maintaining the lockers in a wet and dry sports center that had 450 cabba 8 locks in the dry side and 350 cabba locks in the dry side shortly after we took over the maintenance there had been a spate of thefts on the wet side, somebody had gained access to the lockers by magic no tooling marks it looked like they had been opened by a key. we did catch the person responsible we don't know how but he had got hold of a suite master key and had just been opening customers lockers removing their cash and car keys then either that night or a few days later the customers car would be lifted from their drive along with TVs and other high end stuff from inside their house.

To be sure the thefts we replaced every lock in the wet side the barrels had been upgraded to 20 operating pins from the 8 pins of the older locks.
due to the number of moving parts in such a small area within the barrel of the lock they became sticky very quickly and we had to find a way to lubricate the barrels whilst we had a case of cabba lock cleaner on order some kind minded member of staff took it upon himself to spray all the locks with WD40 causing an overnight jamming of 85% of locks in the whole center. the engineering team to have to remove every lock in the building and clean them in IPA when the cabba lock cleaner arrived every lock in the whole building was treated to a pump of cleaner every 3 months this cured the problems of sticky locks and got the bad man who had been lifting the money and the cars got an 8 year jail sentience. Not nearly enough in my opinion for the misery he had caused to so many people.
From this episode I took away that cabba lock cleaner was the best product for preventative maintenance of locks. I know the building to this day still carry out this simple spray maintenance today and have little problems with their locks. I still have a wee tin with a dribble of the magic stuff in the bottom of it. I had thought it would see me out but it is beginning to look more and more like I will need to buy a new tin. be warned the stuff is not cheep a wee tin can set you back £20 though it is a good investment.