500 (Classic) Newbie Alert!

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500 (Classic) Newbie Alert!

Joined
Apr 1, 2017
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Afternoon All


Checking in as a newbie after the purchase of our classic 500L.


Me and the wife have predominantly (and still are) been VW fans but the love of Italy and the 500 has made us buy one, with the help of Ebay and red wine.


So I will probably hound you all with questions as I didn't even know how to start it when it arrived and here is question number one.......


Why does it have a key on the steering column and also a key in the middle of the dash? regardless none of them work and the car starts without a key and you have to disconnect the battery to stop the engine.


Thanks in advance.


Rob
 
The honest answer is:---dunnow guv! The 500L normally has an ignition switch/steering lock. I can only surmise that the steering lock/ignition switch failed and a previous owner put a plain ignition key in the dash. A ignition barrel (for steering column but WITHOUT steering lock) can be obtained from 'Axel Gerstl' in Germany (and a few other suppliers I suspect). My suggestion is to get the car to a competent auto-electrician, get him to isolate the fault and go from there.
just for interest, where do you live--it is always good to try and put forum members together--strength in numbers bruvver!
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Just to reinforce Hobbler's theory, my ignition switch/lock on the steering column was pretty sticky, as the key or pin tumblers must have been pretty worn. It was getting progressively worse, so I eventually got a ignition barrel lock that was made for the blanked off space in the centre of the dash and switched the wiring over.

I think it was cheaper to do that than source the barrel that fits the steering column. Either that or I just preferred the look of the keys in the centre of the dash!

So, as Hobbler suggested might be the case, the original stopped working and I replaced it with the dashboard version.

I'm not sure why Fiat create a place for a lock on the dash, carried on fitting locks in the steering column and blanked them off though. Maybe they were just using the old assemblies until they were gone?
 
cheers gents, ok so I've had a look tonight and I would say the column ignition was original and the lock in the dash center is aftermarket stuff. Not hard to work out as the loom is cut and it's wired up with a bit of 3 core household flex.
So that key switch has been disregarded and everything works from the column swith, but I don't have a key for that lock......can you buy replacement column links and keys?
 
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