[LDL20]

Hello fellow Swedespeeders,

Hard to believe that some P2's are now over 2 decades old! As the caretaker of my daughter's '04 V70 2.4 with a still young 110K miles, I've depended on the knowledgeable members on this forum to help me get through some tricky repairs without having to visit my mechanic. I didn't want to revive a thread that started in 2012, so as a thank you, and to help any owners of new-to-them older Volvos, I wanted to list the threads I used to "fix" the issue on our V70.

The issue: The key go in and out of the cylinder without issue, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to turn the car on. It took moving the locked steering wheel back and forth while trying to turn the key, along with some praying and cursing to get the car to start. Fortunately, I noticed this when my daughter came home from college for Spring Break, so I was able to address it while she was away. I started with the thread below. User cn90 had a post that led to his prior post on MVS.com. Very helpful to get started! I removed the bottom plate, and while I did see the little broken tab and the spring came out, the guillotine was still up. This meant the key was now truly stuck! So, I had to remove the tumbler and see what was up.

Key Won't Turn Past Position 1

The next thread helped me figure out how to take everything apart. Andreas (member AOW162435) posted a couple times, and his step-by-step directions were great.

Ignition lock cylinder replacement

Here are some tips for those of you attempting this fix:

1. By removing the bottom plate, you are eliminating the steering lock function (not a big deal). When my cylinder was still locked, I pressed down on the rectangular piece from the top underside of the cylinder (you can only see this with the cylinder completely removed from the car). That finally released the locked key so that I could turn it. To keep this rectangular piece down, I taped it so that it wouldn't stick out before I re-installed the cylinder.
2. The best way to remove the shear bolts (security bolts) is to Dremel a notch and then use a flathead screwdriver of drill to remove counter-clockwise. These suckers had blue Lock-Tite from the factory, and they were HARD to remove. I almost gave up, but then I sort of wedged my power drill right under the instrument binnacle, used two hands, used the hammer function on a lower setting, and pushed down hard. The one on the right finally came out. The one on the left (facing the steering wheel) was much easier to do, but you must remove the green and orange connectors to have a chance with the Dremel.
3. Use a small make-up mirror to see what you can't see. It helped me see the little spring tab on the green connector to remove it, and then after a few minutes, I figured out that the orange connector is released by wedging a small screwdriver on the black tab on the bottom of it...this made life much easier and made the use of the Dremel an option.
4. I bought M8 x 1.25 allen head screws to replace the chopped up shear bolts. So if and when I need to replace this cylinder, I can take it out in a few minutes.

Now, the key moves freely and starts the car without issue. If it gets stuck again in the future or won't come out at all, then I know it's time for a new cylinder. If the key starts turning around and around, it's probably the electric ignition part on the left side.

Hope this helps!

 

[Brett San Diego]

I had the issue where, occasionally, my key wouldn't turn, and I couldn't start the car. I had no issue getting the key into the cylinder or out if I had just turned the engine off. I was always able to get it to turn eventually after removing and reinserting the key a few times and jiggling things. This is my off-grid adventure vehicle, and I decided I needed to address it because I didn't want to get stuck out in the boondocks unable to start the car.

Most comments on an ignition cylinder issue say the problem is a piece of the locking pawl being broken off, but mine was fine. I determined I had a combination of key and tumbler wear that was enough to prevent the cylinder from turning with the original key, so I removed the tumblers and ground some of the metal off of them and put it back together. I suppose I could have just removed the tumblers completely and put a screwdriver in the car to start it, but that seemed barbaric. LOL. When reassembling, I left out the entire steering wheel locking pawl mechanism so it could never become a problem in the future. It's a security downgrade, but let's face it. Who's going to steal a 21 year old Volvo?

Brett

 

[hangya]

I had exatly the same issue as you mentioned, but I just been replaced my key for a blade style one, amd after I have never strugled to turn the keys.
Bear in mind new volvo keys are at least 250$ as you need to program the car
There is a workaround, basicly the transponder in your OG key need to be copied to the new key.
I found some guys who been able to do this for around 60$ for everything.
Might worth a shot for you

 

[Brett San Diego]

I had exatly the same issue as you mentioned, but I just been replaced my key for a blade style one, amd after I have never strugled to turn the keys.
Bear in mind new volvo keys are at least 250$ as you need to program the car
There is a workaround, basicly the transponder in your OG key need to be copied to the new key.
I found some guys who been able to do this for around 60$ for everything.
Might worth a shot for you

Good tip. I'm happy with the no-cost fix of grinding down the tumblers so they don't block the cylinder from turning with the original key. My XC70 is not a "nice" Volvo and, for me, not worth paying for a new key or ignition cylinder. It's my off-road and ski trip vehicle. It doesn't get used a lot, but when it does get used, I need it to start every time because I might be many miles away from civilization.

Brett