My daughters 2001 Punto ignition/steering lock has become increasingly difficult to turn. I think the barrel needs replacing. How do I remove the barrel?
Would it be possible to just remove or file off the tumblers to make it possible to turn? (the imobiliser should stop the wrong key being used)
The car is not worth the £450 + being quoted for replacing all locks + recoding.

yes you can take the barrel apart i have done this on a few puntos where it sticks
sometimes you can get away with just removing one tumbler that causes the sticking so the key can still perform its locking duty or you can remove all tumblers so the key would pull out as you drove the car
as you say its chipped so no chance of car being stolen without the key
you need to turn to position 2 push in the little clip on the side of the housing then withdraw the tumbler,you might have to turn the key also its one of those things you dont remember as you do it so have a little play to get it out

you will need to remove the chrome front very carefully but i would need to look at a barrel at work tomorrow to remind myself what i did i learnt by messing though so you could do the same
if no one else has the definative answer i will try and do you a breakdown at work if i have the time with some photies

Try to turn steering wheel on one side first , before you start to turn your ignition barrel by key. That will solve your problem to start to turn your barrel by key without change anything on your car, bechause lock tooth block barrel-pin into lock position on steering axel.
When the steering wheel is locked, and before you start to turn your ignition key, first turn steering wheel on one or another side, and you feel that barrel is set into free position and turn normally.
If this not solve your problem, just try to spray some silicone oil-spray (or WD40 into steering lock tooth (under covering plastic under steering wheel which has to be dismantled firstly) and some small ammount of silicone oil in barrel-directly, or ask some specialist to fix your original barrel and lock for you. New barrel have to be pre-packed to original ignition key, or you have to reprogram new key for your decoder which is too expensive.......

Thanks for your advice. I havn't found the "little clip yet". Started taking the cowling off and found it screwed on with torx type screw heads. Will go again tomorrow with correct tools. What does the littel clip look like? Is there any danger of turning the key to ignition on then not being able to turn it off having removed the barrel?

As for jamming by steering lock, Have tried that, it is definitely the key in the lock which is the problem.
Any further advice will be most welcome.

pictures should be in right order
im sure ive covered everything but as i say if yours is as bad as some ive done then you are just going to have to go for it
if you can get a key and barrel from a breakers yard then you can mess with it to make sure you know what you are doing and if a bit twangs you still have another in your own,the barrel in the picture came out of an old marea i scrapped so you have lots of choices for ignition barrels

steering bits pictures should be self explanatery
position 2 for the key and pull

:worship: Wow, thank you. Have you considered writing workshop manuals? This is realy helpful.
I will leave tackling this till the weekend when I can do it in daylight, I don't fancy searching for lost bits in the street in darkness.

Thanks again

s and b said:

steering bits pictures should be self explanatery
position 2 for the key and pull

Click to expand...

Hi.
Have a bit of a problem! Can anyone help?
Turned engine off but it accidentally went to park position.
Now its stuck in park position with sidelights stuck on.
Cant turn key back to any other position even by wiggling steering wheel.
Any ideas as I cant get it to pos.2 to get the barrel out.
thanks in advance
Gruff

try pulling key slightly towards you as you wiggle the wheel.

You might have a worn out key, rather than a worn out barrel,

I posted a guide on key transponder swap that might help in that case

i too have to wiggle the wheel as i am wiggling the key in order to make the key turn. Not a big problem, as it always does turn after a few seconds of wiggling.

i did add some WD40 into the barrel but it made no difference.

Cheers chaps. Off for a wiggle.....

I managed to get a spare one which was laying in a mk2 at the scrappy with the key in it! (I did check to see if it was the right key btw ha) maybe worth checking local scrappys I managed to pocket mine as a freebie should really take it out the car though don't want it being broken into they could easily nick it not that it's a hard car to nick