Can someone give me some suggestions. I am trying to remove the lock cylinder from our 1990 Honda Civic Si. I have the service manual and it shows to turn the key to I and then depress the lock button on top and slide the cylinder out. Well that doesn't work. My dad, my brother, and I have all tried and we can't get it to come out. Is there a trick to this? We were trying to remove the steering lock, but we can't do that until we get the lock cylinder out. Please help!
Before doing this, confirm that this will work on your Civic.
Most Honda owners I know don't actually remove the lock. Instead, what is done is using a sharp drill, drill into the area that looks like a button. The key is to do this very slowly. The first time I did it, I went too far and had to wire the start using a switch on the dash. The second time it worked perfectly and took less than five minutes.
Post this question with my general summary on www.HondaTech.com to see if it'll work for your car. If you do some searched there, you should be able to find detailed instructions and pictures on how to do it.
Dave's right, don't bother removing all of that as it can be done with it installed. On the bottom side of the lock cylinder is a round silver "button" looking plug, about 1" in diameter. In the middle of that is a recessed area. Right at that point, drill through the "button" with about a 1/4" drill bit. Do it slowly as you don't want to break through too far. Once you've done that, you should be able to see the end of the spring that engages the steering lock. Reach in the hole with a needle-nose, grab that bastard, and rip it out. Viola! No steering lock!
OK that sounds easy enough. But the more I think about it I think I would like to get rid of the keys and just have a toggle and push button starter. If I do do that I can just remove the whole ignition assembly which would disable the steering lock. Can anyone tell me how I should wire it. My stock ignition has several wires going to it and I am sure that some of those wires probably power things like the ecu, fuel pump, etc. Your help is much appreciated.
I really suggest you keep the lock in place. As I mentioned, with my first car it was hard wired like you're talking about and while it looked cool, I wished I had the lock on it still. It sure made taking the car much easier! Keep using the key for now and later on after transporting the car to a few races, if you decide to wire the start you can always do it later. It'll be much harder to reverse it once done.
Security really isn't an issue. The car is in a locked garage unless it is at the track in which case my brother, my dad, and myself are with the car. We talked about it and we want to go with the toggle switch and push button start. We may regret it and we plan to do it in such a way that we can reverse it. Dave you said you did this to your first car, do you remember how you hooked the wiring up? Anyone else that has made this modification?
Thanks
At the risk of waking someone from sleeping on the couch I have a couple questions.
Which rule says you can do anything except "removed the steering lock".
Which rule says you can eliminate the ignition switch & install a toggle switch to start the car?
Don't remove, just add to. I had a problem that if I stalled the car I could not reach the key to restart. Just turn the key to the on position, leave it there and then add a start button. That and I don't think you can "remove" the switch. :cool:
I don't remember the specifics to removing the lock itself, but there is a button looking screw that hold the lock to the column. We took a wiz wheel to it and put a groove in it. The groove then held a flat head screw driver very nicely. We then removed the screw, disabled the lock, and screwed it back in place.
HTH. It's been 6 years since I've done it and the new car got the old column that I already had set up.
So I can't remove the lock assembly from the steering column? I don't see why it would be such a big deal to wire around it then and leave it. I'm in the same boat as spnkzss when I am strapped in I can't reach the ignition switch. So if I stall the car I would have to unhook start the car and then rehook my safety belts. Tell me how that is safe? Some of these rules make no sense to me. How could using a push button start and a toggle switch give any advantage?
David. I have always used this as my justification.Quote:
Originally Posted by ddewhurst
From 9.1.3.D.1.e
Any ignition system which utilizes the original distributor for spark timing and distribution is permitted.
And then they added this to make it even easier to justify
From 9.1.3.D.1.a.7
Wires and connectors in the engine wiring harness may be modified or replaced.
Thank you Dick.:) I don't know how many times I have read that rule. Didn't sink in.:shrug: If one has the savy to wire the stuff correctly while installing a different IGNITION switch the steering lock is gone at the same time.
Last night I drilled the switch and got the spring out, but that was all that came out of the 1/4 hole I drilled. What would happen if a guy removed that whole disk? Could you then remove the lock pin also? Would the ignition switch still work? We have a HSDE in 2 weeks so we are leaving the key switch for now. I was just wondering if anyone has removed the lock pin also?
I'm not sure how different the Civic ingition switch assembly is compared to a Miata, but in the Miata a single screw (or maybe two, can't remember) holds the cylinder to the actual switch part. What I did in my car is to take the whole thing off the car...from looking at online diagrams, it looks like a simple job in the Civic, and that maybe a single recessed screw from the back allows removal of the cylinder. Looks like a bracket with two screws holds the whole thing to the column. I'd remove that, disconnect the switch, then you can Dremel or chisel your way in to remove the pin.
I know people that have: removed the spring and RTV'ed the pin in place, removed the spring and screwed the pin in place, and opened the whole thing up and removed the pin completely. I opted for removing the whole thing. I just took a cold chisel to the cover and took the little block/"pin" out.
If I were you I would not drive around (let alone race) unless you secure the pin, or even better, remove it.
That's my opinion.:)
Regarding an alternate way to turn on the car, I think for some people it IS a safety issue, either because it's hard to restart the car if it dies, or because they will turn it off accidentally with their knee (seen it happen).
:happy204: Done it - in my first race ever. I've now got a toggle switch on the console.Quote:
Originally Posted by AntonioGG
Not a Civic, but on my '00 SSC Focus I removed the whole disk and out popped the spring and lock pin. Couldn't have been simpler.Quote:
Originally Posted by arpenn
It would concern me that jarring around during a race that pin might jump back up and jam the wheel. Unlikely but............
Dan
I have a PDF graphic of how to wire this on your civic. Shoot me an email and I'll send you a copy.
bmcnutt AT heritagegas DOT com
Well last night I removed the whole disk but I couldn't get the pin to come out. The disk was a real pain in the azz, but I got it off. I thought the pin would just slide out but it didn't. Anyone else try this on a honda?
Just to flame the legal/illegal steering lock fire a bit. I'll throw out some facts. Oh, oh look out here comes the sleeping giant off the couch.:D
With my 1985 1st gen RX-7 Spec-7/ITA & with my 1990 Spec Miata with a drill press I REMOVED the steering lock lug from the ignition switch. As of this date if the rule has not been changed via a Fastrack the rule specifies that the steering lock SHALL be REMOVED. Not defeated.
If people don't follow the simple easy rules it sure allows people to wonder what other rules they don't follow.:rolleyes:
David,
I don't understand the point of your post :shrug: I am trying to remove the lock pin, I just can't get it out, so I asked if anyone knew how to remove it? What does that have to do with disabling?
Aaron, my comment was not aimed in your direction.:D
***I know people that have: removed the spring and RTV'ed the pin in place, removed the spring and screwed the pin in place, ***
My comment was aimed at these ^ peole who defeat the steering lock & defeat the rules.
You don't remember cause I did it for you :)Quote:
Originally Posted by spnkzss
I wish I could see the lock.. I would remember how to do it if I had the lock in my hands, but it's hard to describe as spnkzss was the last one I did that to..
If memory serves, the lock pin is pushed up by the spring that you appear to have already removed. The "button" people spoke of was what held the spring and the pin captive. From the gray edges of my memory, you can just pop the entire button off and the spring and pin will fall out. It serves no other purpose if I remember correctly.
I did spnkzss differently. I took the cylinder assy off and removed the internal parts of the lock, then reinstalled the assy using standard bolts. After that, I discovered the "remove the plug (button)" method would accomplish the same thing.
On edit: If you insert the ign key into the lock and turn it one click, there is pin that is located near the base of the silver cover that can be depressed to remove the lock cylinder from the housing. (it's coming back). If you like, you can remove the enter ign lock assy quite easily. There are 2 screws that hold the lock onto the column. They have sheer bolts which means they don't look like bolts right now.
Look for 2 domes about 10mm round with a rough portion in the middle that makes it look kind of like a bullseye. They are accessible from the underside of the steering column. Once located, you need to either cut a groove in them so you can remove them with a screw driver, or you can use a sharp punch and hammer to peen them on the edge. Just a few taps at a slight angle will usually loosen them, they aren't very tight.
I hope I am making sense.
As an FYI there is a new rule change to the steering lock coming to a GCR near youQuote:
Originally Posted by ddewhurst
Effective 11/1/08, change section 9.3.41 to read as follows:
Steering wheel lock devices shall be removed or disabled (except Showroom Stock and
Touring).
This is from memory on my 88 crx. As I recall, there are two security bolts holding the entire lock mechanism to the column. A security bolt is one where when you install it, the head breaks off, leaving a flat surface making it hard to remove. They are visable from the top of the column.
What I did was used my dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to cut a screw driver slot in the top of each bolt. Then I turned them out with a screwdriver and pulled the assembly off. Once off, I used an angle grinder (or a dremel with same cutoff wheel) to grind down the pin so that it was flush. I then reasembled the lock mechanism. It worked for 2 CRX's that I had.
If the spring is removed and the key is not removed the pin can not go in to lock the wheel. This is another rule that is out of date. Try removing the lock on a 99 Mustang, after removing the entire column and disassembling the column you remove the lock and then reassemble the column. The one we did was a tilt type, in my opinion this was potentially more dangerous than racing with the lock. Has anyone ever heard of someone crashing on the street because the column locked up? The rule should be you can run as is unless you have an aftermarket switch installed, then you must disble the lock.
matt
There is a hole on one side of the cylinder that releases the key drum so you can slide the pin out. It took me a few min to figure out that is what that random hole does. The hole is visible above the number 9 in this photo.Quote:
Originally Posted by arpenn
Hope that helps.
Take it off the column and play with it. It is quite obvious when you get to that point.
Carver
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...13SH30_B11.gif
We have tried to release the lock cylinder, but could not get it to come out. I have the factory service manual and I followed the procedure in there, but it would not come out. When we pull the dash out to redo part of the cage I will take the column out and take it apart then.