splurge Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hello. I'm looking for someone in the Essex area who can fix my car. I am happy to pay you for fixing it! The key is stuck in the ignition - Matt H said that this was probably that the lock solenoid on the auto gearbox wasn't engaging properly any more (and hence the ignition didn't know that the car was in Park, and wouldn't let you have the key back). I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to fix for someone who knows what they're doing (i.e. not me). Unfortunately, the battery keeps going flat, so I need it fixed a.s.a.p. If anyone reckons they know what's involved and is in the area, please post a reply or PM me, and we'll sort a price out. I am convinced that this is an electrical fault, because disconnection of the battery allows easy removal of the key. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra ST Myster Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Where abouts in Essex are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splurge Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 Laindon, just on the western edge of the glorious metropolis of Basildon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra ST Myster Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 if you can come over to me i dont mind taking a look at it tomorrow, or i can meet you at southmims on m25 junct 23 tomorrow around 11-11.30 as i will be passing there as heading back down the A1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splurge Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 Thanks! I am pretty stuck for tomorrow, but I could bring it around on Wednesday afternoon if that would be convenient? Where am I taking it to? Is there a good chance you could fix it while I hang around, or would it be a leave-it-and-come-back tomorrow sort of thing? Cheers again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra ST Myster Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 should be able to just hang around, as shouldnt take too long (so he says) didnt you say that before it happened that your dash was taken apart? I am in High Wycombe, Wednesday afternoon is fine, say around 2pm onwards as i have to be somewhere in the morning but be back by 2 onwards. Let me know if this is ok and i will pm you my address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveRex Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 you are not the one in wycombe area with a "YO" number plate are you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I'm almost certain it just needs the gearshift adjusting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra ST Myster Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Originally posted by DaveRex you are not the one in wycombe area with a "YO" number plate are you ? no mate, i have just a plain old Kreg plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveRex Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I'll keep an eye out for you mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splurge Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 Originally posted by supra TT myster should be able to just hang around, as shouldnt take too long (so he says) didnt you say that before it happened that your dash was taken apart? I am in High Wycombe, Wednesday afternoon is fine, say around 2pm onwards as i have to be somewhere in the morning but be back by 2 onwards. Let me know if this is ok and i will pm you my address. Yep, High Wycombe is fine - thanks! I might be a bit later than 2pm 'cos it's 70 miles away from me, but I will be there some time between 2 and 3. The dash wasn't taken apart, but the gear selector, handbrake, and steering wheel were all taken off when they fitted the leather. If it's gonna be more than about £30, can you take payment on a Visa card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra ST Myster Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 you have pm mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Originally posted by Matt Harwood I'm almost certain it just needs the gearshift adjusting... I concur ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loks Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I'd be really interested in the answer to this problem. I had exactly the same issue with the key stuck in the ignition and eating up baterries I must admit I had been fiddling around with the auto-shift area....pretending to know what I was doing beforehand. Took it to those lovely Toyota 'thugs' and they played around all day, charged me a friggin fortune and the couldn't tell me what they had done to temporaily fix it Something like, "yeh we've overiden something so that you can remove the key now but you will have to come back in order that we fix the problem properly and yes we shall charge you more...." Now I have a bodged motor that now has the wonderful ability to engage reverse gear at any forward speed :blink: Awaiting your feedback guys, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splurge Posted March 24, 2004 Author Share Posted March 24, 2004 Right, the problem is now fixed. First of all, a big, big "thank you" to Emin (Supra TT Myster) for fixing it, and to Matt Harwood for his kind advice. OK Loks, sounds like your problem is the exact same thing that I had. I realise this is a very long description, but it's not actually too difficult to do once you understand how it works (that's why I got someone else to fix it ) and if you are looking inside your car whilst you're reading this. Before any of this, you need to take off the large plastic housing around the gear selector. Sounds like you know how to do this already so I won't go into it. What is the gear selector mechanism? The gear selector mechanism consists of the handle (the bit with the buttons on), mounted on top of the actual lever, which turns out to be a hollow tube attached to a pivot at the base of the whole unit. Inside this tube is a metal shaft, with an angled plastic component threaded onto the top of it. Pressing the large button on the gear selector handle operates a mechanism which causes the metal shaft to be pushed downwards. About halfway down the metal shaft is a crosspiece which sticks out about a centimetre either side of the hollow tube, by way of a slit cut into the side of the tube. Therefore, naturally, when you press the button on the selector, the crosspiece also moves downwards. Underneath the plastic cover through which the gear lever protrudes is a fixed, shaped metal component. This is shaped in such a way that it acts like a barrier to the crosspiece in certain places and thus prevents you moving the lever from P to R, R to P, N to R, and 2 to L (maybe R to N too, can't remember)... unless you are pressing the button, which moves the crosspiece underneath the barrier and allows you to move the lever. Clever, huh? When in P, the crosspiece also moves another pin that lets the electrical system know that you're in P, and thus allows you to get the key back. What was wrong with mine? The problem with my car was that somehow the metal shaft inside the hollow tube had got too low, which meant that the crosspiece was too low to be caught by the metal shape - therefore I could move the selector between all positions without having to press the button. This also meant that the crosspiece was too low to engage the pin that tells the electrical system that I was in P - therefore it wouldn't give me my key back. How do you fix it? The first step is to get the gear selector handle off the lever. To do this, look at the base of the handle where it joins the lever. It has a small plastic assembly that goes all the way round the lever. Yank or otherwise jimmy this assembly downwards, so that it detaches from the handle. Inside the area you have just uncovered, there are two screws that hold the handle on. Unscrew them and store them safely. Now you can just pull the handle off. Don't pull too hard though, because there are still some wires in it that go into the rest of the mechanism. The second step is to adjust the height of the angled plastic component which is threaded onto the metal shaft. This is easy, because it is threaded. So all you do is twiddle it with your fingers. Make sure you do multiples of 360 degree rotations, though, otherwise the angled bit at the top will be facing the wrong way. Once you have twiddled it a bit, put the handle back on. Now try moving the selector lever. If you can still move it without needing the button, then either you have twiddled the wrong way, or you haven't twiddled far enough. If you need the button to move it, then you are nearly there. The final thing to check is whether, with the key out of the ignition, you can still move the gear selector by depressing the weird red button with the Japanese logo. If this has stopped working then you have twiddled too far - take the handle off again and twiddle the angled plastic thing back the other way. Once you have twiddled just right, then you're done. I hope this is of some help! If not, I can certainly recommend a visit to Emin, who is now highly proficient in the art of gear selector fixing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splurge Posted March 24, 2004 Author Share Posted March 24, 2004 Loks' Toyota garage said: "yeh we've overiden something so that you can remove the key now but you will have to come back in order that we fix the problem properly and yes we shall charge you more...." I wonder if their "override" was simply to stick a handy bit of scrap metal underneath the pin that tells the car you're in Park, thus engaging it permanently, thereby defeating the safety mechanism and allowing you to take the key out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millhouse Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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