Early r107 Ignition Barrel Issue

[Isdyldan]

Hi everyone, I'm having problems on my '74 350SL ignition key barrel in that it will no longer turn. The key has always been a sloppy fit, and in the past it has turned ok after some wiggling, but now it won't turn at all. The keys are very worn. I've searched the web and this seems to be a common issue, and I've found instructions on how to change out the later barrels. The later barrels seem to be available too, but not the early ones. I was hoping I could remove the barrel by poking a pin in the hole as described for the later ones, but this looks completely different. I just wondered if anyone has any experience of removing/repairing the early type barrels please? So far I have removed a circlip which was round the key entry but that didn't seem to be holding anything on. I know I should have fixed it before it failed completely!
Regards, Dylan

 

[Doug1234]

Have a look on here
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/

And search for ignition tumbler steering lock.
Obviously its an American forum so you need to choose search words accordingly to get anywhere ie bonnet = hood ,trunk = boot. But apart from that if the info isn't on there I doubt you will find it anywhere else.
Look in the ‘tech tips’ part as well.

 

[mioba]

have you tried the sl shop

 

[Oldspanners]

Hi everyone, I'm having problems on my '74 350SL ignition key barrel in that it will no longer turn. The key has always been a sloppy fit, and in the past it has turned ok after some wiggling, but now it won't turn at all. The keys are very worn. I've searched the web and this seems to be a common issue, and I've found instructions on how to change out the later barrels. The later barrels seem to be available too, but not the early ones. I was hoping I could remove the barrel by poking a pin in the hole as described for the later ones, but this looks completely different. I just wondered if anyone has any experience of removing/repairing the early type barrels please? So far I have removed a circlip which was round the key entry but that didn't seem to be holding anything on. I know I should have fixed it before it failed completely!
Regards, Dylan

Have a look at this it may be of some help.

 

[Isdyldan]

Have a look on here
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/

And search for ignition tumbler steering lock.
Obviously its an American forum so you need to choose search words accordingly to get anywhere ie bonnet = hood ,trunk = boot. But apart from that if the info isn't on there I doubt you will find it anywhere else.
Look in the ‘tech tips’ part as well.

Thanks for the pointer - there’s some great info there. I’ll have a go today and report back. Dylan

 

[Isdyldan]

have you tried the sl shop

No I haven’t but I’ll call them when I know which bit I need thanks.

 

[Isdyldan]

Have a look at this it may be of some help.

Thanks - that guy is great! He only scared me in this video though as I think the tumbler I need is no longer available! Dylan

 

[Isdyldan]

Wow what a day of struggling and learning I've had! I watched quite a few videos and got more and more annoyed at myself for not sorting it out earlier. It turns out that unless you can turn the key, you can't remove the barrel at all. Even to remove the entire steering lock mechanism you need to push in a small pin (see photo) which you can't do unless the key is turned. You'd need to drill out the lock.
I watched this great video:

I didn't have graphite but tried Moly grease which seems to be similar on the key. After much wiggling and to my great surprise the key finally turned. I was able to undo the 10mm bolt behind the binnacle and push in the pin. It still took some aggression to pull the lock out from the steering column. I was reluctant to remove the key, but you have to to pull out the mechanism and it is no longer a problem once the pin has been pressed in and the lock pulled out a bit. I now need to find out how to remove the tumbler from the lock.
I key lesson is do not fire WD40 into the key slot like I did. I make an occasional failure of the key to turn into a definite failure.

 

[LostKiwi]

Well done persevering with it. Now at least you can try to sort it without worrying the car will never move again.

 

[mattkh]

"......key lesson is do not fire WD40 into the key slot like I did.."

How did the WD40 make things worse ??

 

[Isdyldan]

"......key lesson is do not fire WD40 into the key slot like I did.."

How did the WD40 make things worse ??

I'm not sure, but I think it dissolves the bits of gunk on the ends of the tumblers which stops them being pushed up just enough to allow the lock to turn. I've just managed to fix it all actually. With the circlip removed you can remove the barrel to expose the tumblers. You can see from my photo that two of the tumblers were not fully retracting where the key is worn. I could have filed those two down, but decided to just remove them as there are 10 in total and I figured 8 is enough for the security I need! If it happens again I'll just pull them all out. Anyway it all works fine again now - just got to wrestle it back into the car now.

 

[LostKiwi]

Well done.

I'd be tempted to thoroughly clean that and then lubricate with graphite. Graphite has the advantage of not attracting and holding any dirt off the key.

 

[Oldspanners]

I'm not sure, but I think it dissolves the bits of gunk on the ends of the tumblers which stops them being pushed up just enough to allow the lock to turn. I've just managed to fix it all actually. With the circlip removed you can remove the barrel to expose the tumblers. You can see from my photo that two of the tumblers were not fully retracting where the key is worn. I could have filed those two down, but decided to just remove them as there are 10 in total and I figured 8 is enough for the security I need! If it happens again I'll just pull them all out. Anyway it all works fine again now - just got to wrestle it back into the car now.

Just make sure it all works with the electrical connector on the end before you install it.