Need help starting car without key?

[Baddflash]

Backgound

 

Ok back in March one of my Lumina's was stolen and was recovered in late May. They wrote the car off and gave me $1900 which was pretty good considering I paid $700 for it over a year before it was stolen. Now almost 2 months later they finally came up with a value after sending it to an auction, you ready :shock: $125.00CDN I couldn't believe they actually came up with a reasonable value, so I told them I for sure wanted it and all I have to do is pick it up. The K&N filter it has is worth almost that much alone, and the battery is worth more

 

The car was only driven 4 blocks where they removed the stereo, so I have to replace the small rear quarter window, replace the trims and fix or replace a couple they broke, replace/repair the trunk around the lock, and luckily I thought I don't have to replace the ignition cause they found my winter key under the mat. I say it was good cause there's a lot less damage but bad cause someone could have the key now.

 

Problem

 

This is where my problem begins, I can not find the key for the ignition anywhere I only had 2 and some asshole thief has the other one

 

I have another column that I could swap really quick but they won't let me work in the impound. I can't afford to and flat out refuse to tow a $125 car anywhere and it would put the cost up to $200 which it too damn much for this car

 

How hard would it be to disable the steering lock, so I could drive it home hot wired?

 

How hard is it to pull a lock cylinder out of a non tilt column?

And more importantly do you need to have the key to get it out in one piece?

 

Any help, thoughts or ideas would be great guys, thanks.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Dealership + VIN number = new key

[KING JOKER]

if you have a 89-94 luminayou could always just get a gmpasskey

[Brian P]

ok it's involved but here's what you do:

 

Remove steering wheel, garnish cover, take screws out of signal switch and let it hang

 

there will be a service hole where you will see a small white plug with 2-wires going to it, brown and green. Pry this straight back (this is the buzzer switch)

 

That buzzer switch covers the screw you will need to remove. It's either a T-20 or T-25. it can be a tight screw so make sure you have the right size. unscrew then pull it out (might need a magnet) now you can pull out the lock cylinder and activate the ignition manually, which I believe is pretty easy.

[91oldscutlass]

Dealership + VIN number = new key

 

 

a whole lot easier...I repo cars. When I dont have the keys..I have the people who they own money too get the key made at GM. As long as you can show proff of ownership they will gladly make you a key!!

[Baddflash]

I forgot to mention the column I have sitting here is a tilt. I got everything removed but the tilt stuff would appear to be in the way. The column is junk except for the lock cyl which I would like to use on the car, so I don't care if I wreck it.

 

Can someone tell me where the screw is and what's covering it so I know where to inflict damage

 

How long do you think it would take to get the key from the stealer?

I have till saturday and then it starts costing me $$$.

 

 

Thanks.

 

Still can't find the GD key #@$(*@ )@( $( @)$

 

I almost wish they had smashed the column, atleast it'd be sitting here right now getting fixed.

[Brian P]

Oh so now it's tilt!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

ok

there's a silver round button looking thing on the lower right of the column "face" however you call it, with a small square hole in the middle. Grab a #2 phillips screwdrver, push it in the hole, push in (spring loaded) and turn. It'll release. Do this slowly guy. Then continue with my directions.

[Baddflash]

Thanks Brian,

 

Not exactly, the car I have to get doesn't have tilt, but the column I have sitting here does.

 

I got it though, thanks. Atleast I know what to do when I go to get the car.

 

I'd be easier to just get a key made but there's still the chance that dick has the key so it's probably better to swap it.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Brian P]

yeah, swapping is uber easy, I actually just found that out recently.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Maybe you can go with a friend (to get the job done faster) slip the guy a $20 and do the column swap as fast as possible..

[phantomshado]

slide hammer. rip the tumbler out, and start it with a flat screwdriver.

crude, but I got my old cutlass home that way once. Lost the keys, had the slide hammer in the trunk, popped the trunk lid, and off I went. I did it because I was in Montreal, and just wanted to get the fuck out of there. I seriously am not a fan of that place. :shock:

 

If I had to stay in canada somewhere, I like ottawa a lot, and toronto isn't too shabby, although vancouver is the best!

[gp90se]

3/8 bit and a good cordless drill, same deal as a slidehammer and u will be able 2 start it with a flathead.

 

-Jeff

[cutlsp]

i did that to my black cutlass to get the tranny out of park so it could be moved so in other word the good drill and the screw driver method works well i've done it

[Guest TurboSedan]

yeah, swapping is uber easy, I actually just found that out recently.

 

 

swapping an entire steering column is very very easy! 1/2 hour job tops. it's easier with two people so someone can hold/support the column up & in place while you install and tighten the 11mm pinch bolt near the bottom of the column. then it's just 4 13mm bolts that hold the column to the dash assembly and 1 7mm screw that holds the wiring harness connector together. that's it!

 

i swapped in a '93 Lumina steering column into my Cutlass a few months ago because my original column had a FUBAR turn signal switch, and since i swapped to a 5-speed i wanted to get rid of the ugly column shift stub anyway. for awhile there i had an automatic shift handle sticking out of the column...kinda funky looking when the car is actually a 5-speed

[WhiteOut]

I vote for installing a swith in line with the starter. Just wire it up and stick it through the floor/firewall and all you'll have to do is flip a switch to start the car. Who knows, maybe some dumbass will steal it again and you can make another $1200.

[Baddflash]

It's been like 5 months but my Lumi is finally home.

 

Actually it only took like 10 min. to swap the lock cyl for the old one from my 5SPD. It almost took longer to get a working set of jumper cables than it did to swap the locks out.

 

The car ran fine all the way home and my buddy said it has tons of balls still which is good, but I never got to take it for a spin.

 

It was sitting there idling after buddy parked it so I jumped in and as soon as I shut the door it died and had no power to restart....WTF. I still have no idea of the relation between it stalling and shutting the door???

 

So I checked the cables and they were a bit loose, so I figured it didn't get any charge, and grabbed the charger. After like 20 min I check it and absolutely nothing, the buzzer barely works. I cleaned the terminals but no difference, they weren't that bad any way. So out comes the multimeter and as I suspected only 6v so half the cells are dead.

 

The battery is only 2 yrs old and has a 5yr warranty, but the reciept was in the car and is gone although it was bought with my Canadian Tire MC which apparently has no affiliation with Canadian Tire, um....ok...sure.. I got nothing but bullshit, the best they would do is replace it with a $25 discount but no warranty coverage period. Well thank you very much you thieving bastards, I had to restrain myself from jamming the battery up buddys ass as he was yelling across the store "why should I be responsible for it" I said "cause it's under your fucking warranty asshole" as I threw it across the store at buddy. Real mature I know :oops: :oops: I can't stand their bs policy's that let them get out of anything and their ignorant employee's. This guy was a manager and caused more of a scene than I did, well until I heaved the battery at him but I was already having a really bad day before this and he was the last straw. :oops: :oops:

 

Anyway I'm happy to get the car back and it shouldn't cost be too much to get everything fixed, although I'm a little pissed about some damage that occured after the car was recovered. I'm going to talk to the ins. company tommorow cause they guaranteed the car was in the same condition as it was when sitting in the police impound which is not the case.

I guess I shouldn't complain cause it was really cheap.

 

Thanks for the help everyone, but some advice to anyone that's runs into the same problem. Fix It Right, it's easier and probably faster than most other work arounds and it's DONE WITH.

 

Later,

[god910]

I went to the dealership and they told me that only late year 92's and up could have a key made w/ the vin. Older than that they don't keep in there D-base.

[gp90se]

congrats on gettin the car back!!!

 

-Jeff