From time to time the steering column lock comes on and I can't drive Please HElP.

Mostly the steering lock is a zinc alloy casting clamped around the steering column using shear bolts. Once a predetermined torque is reached during fitting the driving heads shear off and are discarded.
This means the bolts can be very difficult to remove entailing the use of hammer, chisel or punch and (officially) drilling and screw extractors. Sometimes the steering column must be lowered or removed for access. Often some time spent with a hacksaw blade and the careful use of brute force and ignorance is quicker.

Just to add another level of complication; the steering column is usually bolted to the underside of the dash with shear bolts.

There are a few cars and light commercial vehicles that had a steel steering lock housing that is integral with the steering column - some older Peugeots and some older Mercedes...

Does the vehicle start an run ?Can you turn the key to the off position ? And the key won't come out ? Did you try some key graphite ( lube ) ? New lock cylinder need maybe . Or is it a problem with
Steering Column Electric Park Lock
If the vehicle is equipped with a floor-mounted console gear shifter, an added safety feature is an steering column electric park lock system in the steering column. The steering column electric park lock system prevents the steering wheel from being locked when the transmission is in gear and the vehicle may be moving. The column ignition lock system consists of a steering column electric park lock and a park position switch, that is located in the A/T shift lock control switch. The steering column electric park lock contains a spring-loaded pin that mechanically prevents the ignition key cylinder from being turned to the Lock position when the transmission is not in the Park position. If vehicle power is lost or the transmission is not in the Park position, the operator will not be able to turn the ignition key to the Lock position and will not be able to remove the ignition key from the column.

On a 96, you can just bypass it. This lik should help you

http://vatspasslockpasskeysecurityhelp.yolasite.com/

It sounds like the shift tube bushings are worn out. There are usually 2 u shaped clamps that have nylon bushings that hold the shift tube to the steering clumn. If loose, that throws off the shift position, could be btween 2 gears at once, and throws off the park - neutral safety switch. Fix that first.


Item Part Number Description 1 14A664 Air Bag Sliding Contact 2 3530 Upper Steering Column Shroud 3 3518 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 4 3517 Steering Column Bearing 5 3511 Steering Column Lock Cylinder Housing 6 13K359 Multi-Function Switch 7 N808114 Pin 8 N805857 Steering Column Release Lever Pin 9 3D544 Steering Column Release Lever 10 3F609 Tilt Wheel Handle and Shank 11 7361 Column Shift Selector Lever Plunger 12 7210 Gearshift Lever 13 3D657 Steering Column Shaft 14 7B071 Transmission Control Selector Lever Plunger Spring 15 7G357 Gearshift Lever Pin 16 7212 Transmission Column Shift Selector Tube 17 N806582 Tilt Column Pivot Screw 18 7C464 Transmission Control Selector Lever Spring Clip 19 7E400 Gearshift Tube Bushing Clamp 20 - Spacer (Fixed Column) 21 3E729 Steering Shaft (Fixed Column) 22 3F527 Lever Assembly (Manual Transmission) 23 3F530 Pin (Manual Transmission) 24 3F752 Brake Shift Interlock Solenoid 25 7335 Gearshift Lever Socket Bushing 26 7A216 Transmission Shift Selector Position Insert 27 7302 Transmission Selector Lever Arm and Support 28 7E395 Shift Cable and Bracket 29 7210 Gearshift Lever 30 3E691 Steering Column Shift Lock Pawl 31 7W441 Gearshift Lever Pin 32 3676 Steering Column Instrument Panel Bracket 33 3D681 Steering Column Lower Bearing Retainer 34 3517 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 35 3L539 Steering Column Bearing Tolerance Ring 36 3C674 Steering Column Lower Bearing Spring 37 3C131 Sensor Ring 38 3518 Steering Column Bearing 39 N806423-S56 Steering Column Retaining Nuts 40 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 41 3F723 Steering Actuator Housing 42 3B663 Steering Column Lock Lever Pin 43 11572 Ignition Switch 44 3D655 Steering Column Position Spring 45 3D653 Steering Column Locking Lever (LH) 46 3B768 Steering Column Position Lock Spring 47 3B662 Steering Column Locking Lever (RH) 48 3E715 Lower Steering Column Lock Actuator 49 3E696 Steering Column Lock Spring 50 3E691 Steering Column Shaft Lock Pawl 51 3E723 Upper Steering Column Lock Lever Actuator 52 3E695 Steering Column Lock Cam 53 3D656 Steering Column Tilt Flange Bumper 54 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 55 391727-S304 Shroud Screws 56 3530 Steering Column Shroud 57 3E717 Steering Column Lock Gear 58 3E700 Steering Column Lock Housing Bearing 59 3C610 Bearing Retainer 60 11582 Ignition Switch Lock Cylinder 61 3L539 Steering Column Tolerance Ring 62 3520 Steering Column Upper Bearing Spring 63 3C610 Snap Ring

Turn ignition key/lock cylinder to the ON position. Insert a thin screwdriver into the slot adjacent to the switch attaching screw boss (right-hand slot). Depress the spring latch located at the bottom of the slot to release the key/lock cylinder. Remove the cylinder.
to remove key-lock cylinder switch Ignition Switch

Removal & Installation

1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
2. Remove the steering column shroud and lower the steering column.
3. Detach the ignition switch electrical hardness connector.
4. Remove 2 nuts retaining the ignition switch to the steering column housing.
5. Lift the ignition switch upward to disengage the actuator rod from the switch and remove the switch.


To install:

> When installing the ignition switch, both the locking mechanism at the top of the column and the switch itself must be in the LOCK position for correct adjustment. To hold the mechanical parts of the column in the LOCK position, move the shift lever into PARK (with automatic transmissions) or REVERSE (with manual transmissions), turn the key to the LOCK position, and remove the key. New replacement switches, when received, are pinned in the LOCK position by a metal shipping pin inserted in a locking hole on the side of the switch.


6. Engage the actuator rod in the ignition switch.
7. Place the ignition switch on the steering column housing and loosely install 2 retaining nuts.
8. Move the switch up or down along the column to locate the mid-position of the actuator rod lash, then tighten the retaining nuts to 47-64 inch. Lbs. (5-7 Nm).
9. Raise the steering column into position at instrument panel. Install steering column shroud.
10. Connect the negative battery cable.
11. Remove the locking pin, connect the battery cable, and verified that the engine will only crank in PARK and NEUTRAL. Also check to make certain the start circuit cannot be actuated in the DRIVE and REVERSE positions.
to get more help on this issue with more details. then please click on this link directly
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5880956_change-ignition-lock-cylinder.html
thanks.this will help.

• Ignition Removal Instructions
  
• Disconnect the negative battery cable from the battery. Refer to Battery Negative Cable Disconnection and Connection in Engine Electrical.

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• Remove the upper and lower shrouds. Refer to Steering Column Trim Covers - Disassemble - Off Vehicle or Steering Column Trim Covers - Disassemble - Off Vehicle .

• Put the key in the steering column lock cylinder set (1).

• Turn the key to the "START" position.

• Install a 1/16 allen wrench (2) into the hole on top of the lock module assembly in order to release the steering column lock cylinderset retaining pin.

• Turn the steering column lock cylinder set (1) into the "RUN" position.

• Pull the steering column lock cylinder set (1) out from the lock module assembly.

• Remove the key from the steering column lock cylinder set (1).
  

• Installation Instructions

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• Insert the key into the steering column lock cylinder set (1).
• LIne up the locking tab (2) and the positioning tab (3) of the steering column lock cylinder set with the locking tab slot (5) and the positioning tab slot (4) in the lock module assembly (6).
• Push the steering column lock cylinder set (1) into the lock module assembly (6).
• Rotate the steering column lock cylinder set (1) in the lock module assembly (6) into all positions.
• Install the upper and lower shrouds. Refer to Steering Column Trim Covers - Assemble - Off Vehicle or Steering Column Trim Covers - Assemble - Off Vehicle
• Remove the ignition key from the lock cylinder set (1).
• Connect the negative battery cable to the battery. Refer to Battery Negative Cable Disconnection and Connection in Engine Electrical

I hope this helps and good luck.
Please remember to vote and leave a testimonial. Thanks.

When they did the alignment it's possible that they used a tool that locks the steering wheel straight while it's on the alignment rack.If they put too much pressure on the wheel when they used the steering wheel seat lock tool it may have stressed you tilt lock mech causing it not to lock where you want it.Hope this helps

2losbergs,

You probably have some parts inside your column that are binding and just not working properly anymore. Their however a few things to remedy this:


Expensive: Buy a new/used steering lock/column, different manufacturers sell these seperately or as one piece.

Cheap: Dismantle the steering column to get the lock out, see if you can get it to retract properly again by greasing, or just grind about half of it off, so it will still engage with the key removed but will clear the column. You can test this without having to put it all back in the car each time.

You may also want to check the steering shaft underneath the hood. It will have a u-joint somewhere along the shaft and overtime these things need to be greased to continue to operate smoothly and not bind. I would spray liberal amounts of wd-40 on the u-joint if I were you. I doubt this is the cause of your problem because you say you have a hard time turning your key as well. By you saying that it tells me your problems definetly lie inside your steering column.

Its not very hard to dismantle the column just take your time and remember where things go.

I hope this helps and good luck!

If I've helped you get your car turning properly again please give me a fixya vote, I'd be much obliged,
AadoubleA

The clunk as you describe could be one of three problems, the steering lower column, the steering gearbox or the constan velocity joints.
The lower steering coloumn viewable from the engine bay below the brake unit has a rubber coupler which breaks and can cause the column to lock up, the steering gearbox which the column mounts to can also fail inside, fiunally the c.v. joints break and will cause intermittant binding of the steering, you need to goto a car park and drive the vehicle full lock left and right and have someone listen for the clunk, if it is coming from the wheel area then its the cv joints.
I would start there, hope this helps
JPTCAT

if you have tilt steering wheel and the little black spot or carbon or resistance on your ignition key then the problem might be
some very tiny cables coming from the ignition lock cylinder all the way down to the steering column most of times the are white in color and they broke internally,
next time this happend try to mess with the steering wheel position up and down and see if you get any luck but if you see this little cables under the steering column most likelly you need a new ignition lock cylinder replacement.
i hopee and this help because you did not answe me to se if your key come with the little black resistor on it. good luck