Plastic stuck in ignition switch

[lemoncar]

My daughter tried to start my 1999 Toyota Sienna with the end of my glasses and a small piece broke off. I cannot get the key in far enough to turn it at all. I had a locksmith come out and he could not remove the piece of plastic. He said he can drill into it so that I can start the car (but then everyone else will be able to as well), or should I just have it towed to the dealer or my neighborhood mechanic and have them replace the whole ignition cylinder? The dealer told me it will be $300-400 to get it fixed because he has to match it to the door locks. Thanks for any advice!

[ccewbj]

If you're at all mechanically inclined, you could remove the ignition yourself.

Matching the locks is not too complicated. Once the lock/ignition cylinder is removed, there's usually a retaining clip that hold several spring-loaded pins/slithers of metal in. These pins are all different lengths and match up with your key, so the removal and replacement must match the same order. So what they will do is remove the original pins and place them in the new cylinder to match your keys....takes only a few minutes. the trick will be getting the ignition out. But saying that, if you get the igniton lock out, you may very well be able to remove the plastic at that point. This would save you the cost of a new lock cylinder. The last time I replaced one in a Honda, it was ~100$ for the part.

Is it loose in the key hole? If so, perhaps some long hobby pliers/tweezers?

From what I recall, there's no plastic in a typical lock cylinder, only cast metal, brass. You may try to wet the stuck plastic with a bit of acetone, which melts plastic. This may loosen it up. But remove the steering column plastic covers first. You could use a syringe and needle from a pharmacy. You'll need to lubricate the lock thereafter.

Good luck

Chris

[ccewbj]

HI,

I saw this in another post regarding the ignition switch.

"OK, it took about 15 minutes. Step 1, remove lower left corner trim piece, just snaps out. Step 2 remove 2 screws behind hood release lever and 2 bolts on lower left and right of trim panel under steering wheel, panel then pops out. Step 3 remove 2 bolts and take out metal frame under trim panel from step 2. Step 4 insert key, move to accessory position, insert 1/8" rod into hole on bottom of lock housing and push while pulling on key, lock pops out. Installation of new lock, insert key to acc position and shove it into lock housing. Reinstall trim and you are done. You can get the new lock rekeyed at a locksmith or Toyota before installing. Not sure why Toyota says this porcess takes 3 hours but I guess it includes the technicians 2 hour 45 min lunch break."

Hope this helps,

Chris

[Dave's]

Seems the problem would be turning it to accessory. If you could do that, you could also start the car. I would try dental picks to attempt to remove the plastic. But trying to force the key in may have really jammed it. Maybe if you have an all metal key made which could be heated with a torch or something and push it in (using pliers or heat-resistant gloves) would melt the plastic?