lock cylinder

[chiefsshop]

Have any of you guys had trouble with your lock cylinder? I was coming back from Niagra Falls and when I pulled over at the service area, I couldn't get my truck going again. I had to leave my truck, drive to Syracuse and get some tools, then drive 50 miles to get to my truck. Upon teardown and inspection I found that a tumbler had broken. I took me a few minutes to figure out how to get her going again. I drove her home with the steering column all tore apart, no air bag on the steering wheel, it basically looked like I broke into it and stole it That would have been interesting if I had gotten pulled over.The next day I found the lock cylinder locally and put her back together. I guess I really can't complain I'cve put 61000 miles on her since I bought it and this is the only time she has let me down,

[FirstDiesel]

This is interesting. How did you start the truck without the ignition switch?? So much for the GM story of only the correct key will start the truck due to the ECU program having a match of the key.

[chiefsshop]

The switch is made of three seperate pieces, you have the lock cylinder, the ignition switch and the case. The case is the housing that holds everything together and bolts to the steering column. So I pulled the case off the steering column, pulled the ignition switch out of the case, it has two spring loaded tabs that you have to push in to get it out. The switch has a plastic gear on it that is driven by the lock cylinder. so you can manually turn the gear to get it to start, but the problem is that since the key is not in the run position my truck would not stay running due to the passlock system. After you remove the switch there is the plastic gear that attaches to the lock cylinder, you pull that out of the case and you should see that back of the lock cylinder. the lock cylinder has a tab on it that you have to push in to get it to slide out about a quater inch, you have to have to key in to do this. I slid the cylinder foward and looked around it until a found the tab the locks the cylinder in place when the key is not in, I pushed that in and I turned the lock cylinder to the run postion. At that point I was able to pull it out of the case, but since I didn't have the replacement, I stuck it back in the run postion and actuated the switch to turn my truck on. So thats how I got my truck going it took me about an hour to figure it out. I wish I had access to a camera so I could have taken some pictures for future refernce. I spent about $100 on parts and tools, but it was still cheaper than having it towed to the nearest chevy dealer about an hour away.