Key stuck in ignition barrel - Saxperience

jamdan · 19th January 2010, 19:11

Hi, my car is a 1999 Saxo 1.1 and the key is jammed in the ignition barrel. I was unable to turn off the engine and had to stall the car. Not sure whether this is related but last week my heater/blower stopped working, and then today for some reason they started working again, but when I came to park the car the ignition key was totally jammed leaving me unable to turn off the engine.
I have been told by Citreon that I need a 'full new lock set' which I cannot afford. Is their a cheaper way i.e. 2nd hand ignition barrel, and if so how do i remove the barrel whilst the key is jammed?
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated....!

moody989 · 19th January 2010, 21:21

you can buy new ignition barrels from eurocarparts.com for around £100 but iv not a clue how ur gonna get the old one out. sorry

Aaron · 19th January 2010, 23:49

go scrapyard
remove lower dash bit,where the key barrel is.
youll need two flat screwdrivers to remove the barrel.i think the key has to be in the barrel to remove it?
there 3 main plugs off the key barrel. 1 brown,1black,1whitey/grey. remove them.
remove barrel with key.

Removing your key from your barrel. i just snapped the key in the barrel then removed my old barrel and fitted the new one from scrapyard

stormjojo1982 · 19th January 2010, 23:53

had this problem too, but watched a guy on youtube tap his a few times with a screwdriver and it worked!

savo · 20th January 2010, 08:41

The ignition switch is gone...same thing happened mine. I kept trying to force the key round and it eventually did but the ignition switch was fucked. Guy from the AA said 2 get a push button start fitted cause citroen would be looking a fortune for new barrel and coding the keys.

nads2030 · 20th January 2010, 20:22

Regards ignition barrel.
If you can get the ignition barrel and cables out from under the column intact, (which I have done ) you will see a small torx screw which holds the white plastic part and cables to the metal part of the ignition barrel.
Unscrew the torx screw and seperate the two pieces about half an inch. Then you should be able to lift the plastic part away from the metal part of the barrel. You should then be able to turn the key in the ignition barrel again. When mine went, there were some rotating bits in the plastic part which had melted and fused together, which then stopped the key from turning. I went to local scrapyard and picked up just the white plastic part and cables. Cost me a fiver and I did'nt need to change the key.
PS. When seperating the two parts, be gentle, there is a tiny spring in there which can jump out. ( I lost the spring the first time I did this job ).
It may sound difficult but with patience it can be done, and it is a lot cheaper than new barrel and key, then getting the key coded to the car.
Good luck

halpal93 · 1st December 2010, 11:51

this was a great help my 1.4 2000 saxo has just done this and is a right pain in the ass to get out! cheers everyone

superCREG · 1st December 2010, 20:57

I had that, pain in the arse cos it was fiddly lol

redadair85 · 24th January 2011, 16:38

exact same thing happened to mine 99 vtr, had to get barrel replaced, removed the chip from old key and put in new ones, battery was fucked tho but fired up after that

citroen_saxo_vtr · 24th January 2011, 20:16

Isnt this when the barrel burns out at the bakc and melts? it happened to my mtes and it shorted his powering steering, rear window demister, blower everything so his dad put all new locks in and ignition barrel and wired the power steering up so it would work soon as the ignition was on 1 click, hes a citroen technition and said its a common fault??? meh dunno i have been lucky so far then lol.

mrtnd · 30th June 2021, 10:05

I know this is an old question, but someone might have the same problem now, so i can give a tip. One reason could be that you accidentally moved the steering wheel and it locked up and thats why the key cant turn to ignition. What you have to do is gently move the steering wheel so you can turn the key.

Manu · 30th June 2021, 13:05

LOL, that's driving school stuff and the thread is 10 years old

mrtnd · 30th June 2021, 16:24

True, but dont expect everyone to know this, especially if they are fresh drivers lol

Manu · 30th June 2021, 17:30

Mind you good luck getting some motorway training in the UK, so someone being stuck because he doesn't know how to deal with a Neimann wouldn't surprise me.