'88 Lebaron Key Cylinder Replacement: HELP!

Hey Everyone,
Well last Friday I pulled my car into the garage to put in a new stereo. I had to move the car into driveway to get something then pull it back in the garage. I get in there and go to shut the car off but no can do. The key is stuck in the run position of the column!! To kill the engine I had to pull the coil wire. Well I checked out the chilton's manual at the library and followed the directions the best I could but can't get it out. I know there are some techs on here... so I was hoping you could help. The car has a non-acustar tilt column in it. If you have any idea's please let me know.

Its an '88 Lebaron 5-spd.

- Jon

My son's 87 Daytona did the same thing. As it turned out you could turn it off WITHOUT pushing on the lock lever. I can't remember all the procedure for getting to that part of the column, but I do remember it's a lot of fun........

any insight anyone...

Craig

Where are you stuck as far as the instructions go?

To start with the lock was stuck in the ON position. I was able to drill it out get it to the LOCK position.

We tore the column down and we were able to get to the ignition. There was what appeared to be a release on the bottom of the ignition when in the off position. We depressed the release and cannot move the ignition out.

Looking over the directions again it appears they want you to remove a spring. When looking for the spring we can only find a spring on the left hand side of the column. It seems like the ignition is still engaged. We are not trying to save the old ignition just trying to remove to install a new one.

Any insight would be great...

Craig

That may be the spring you need to remove. Think it holds the gear to the switch. If you have the new switch handy it might give you an idea on the spring deal.

removed the spring and it appears that the gear is held in by a clip. no room to remove the clip because the column cover cannot be removed until the ignition is out.

Craig