L322 Stranded in a Car Park - Ignition won't turn!

Evenin All

Had my L322 for about a month now and knew of some of the infotainment electrical gremlins when I got it, but I can live without music and Sat Nav for the time being!

So currently the Car is stranded in a Pub Car Park after coming to collect it and the ignition key does nor turn, I have been over several forums and tried the following:

• Removed fuse 23 and put back in
• Removed fuse 18 and put back in
• RAC disconnected battery for 5 minutes and reconnected
• Tried a different Key
• Battery was replaced mid last year and has been tested by RAC
• Had a religious friend pray for it (joking but might be next on the list!)

All of the above I have tried with suggested times etc but to no avail, it is being recovered to a Garage tomorrow as the access to the Car Park is not great.

Can anyone cast another line of things to try, my understanding is that it is most likely the solenoid/plunger sticking and it's either a replacement new or secondhand part or take the old one apart and lubricate it as the plunger can stick.

Has anyone experienced this before?

It's a 4.4 2004 Vogue.

Do L322's have such things as old fashioned steering locks? If so, have you tried waggling the wheel whilst trying to turn the key?

Not sure if it is the same for the L322.
Very common problem on the D2, as the blades in the ignition wear over time and do not go to the correct position and so stop the key turning.



Cheers

Muddy Vicky said:

Do L322's have such things as old fashioned steering locks? If so, have you tried waggling the wheel whilst trying to turn the key?

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Thanks Muddy Vicky, it's all electronic I'm afraid, no old skool waggling worked!

neilly said:

Not sure if it is the same for the L322.
Very common problem on the D2, as the blades in the ignition wear over time and do not go to the correct position and so stop the key turning.



Cheers

Click to expand...

Thanks neilly, not sure if it is a common problem, will do some checking.

Stick some wd40 or such like down it and try it, nothing to lose
Read on another site that dealers have had to drill the lock out if you can't turn the key
If no joy disconnecting the battery for a time

Just spoke to better half... you're right it's electronic, but it's still a steering lock which engages uses the solenoid you've been looking at. Impression seems to be that the plunger sticks and doesn't retract when it receives power. Better half used to strip plastic trim away to get at steering column and tap opposite side of the plunger as key inserted to try and persuade to release... Short answer is that power seems to be needed to retract the plunger so removing the battery wouldn't help.

Another reason I'll be sticking with my old unreliable vehicles... at least they can be wheel waggled!

This might give you some help
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/posts/3812791/
And don't use wd40 in the lock it will gum it up, electrical contact cleaner is the one to use.

brianp38dse said:

This might give you some help
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/posts/3812791/
And don't use wd40 in the lock it will gum it up, electrical contact cleaner is the one to use.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this, will have a good run through of it tomorrow and ask my mechanic what he wants to do.

There has been lots of post regarding steering locks, if you use the search box top right of page you will find lots more info worth a read there is lots of different problems, you may just find the right one

The steering lock is controlled via an ECU, it also locks the ignition barrel.

Have you had the ignition key apart at any time??

Saint.V8 said:

The steering lock is controlled via an ECU, it also locks the ignition barrel.

Have you had the ignition key apart at any time??

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Hi Saint V8

I've not had the key apart, the spare is quite weak so tempted to change the battery (s) in that one, currently neither key will turn so I'm inclined to think the steering lock ecu is not triggering the plunger. When I unlock the Car I can here clicking from the steering column area with the key in the ignition.

If you take your spare key apart, DO NOT lose the little bit of black plastic that may fall out......this is the transponder chip that the ignition switch active coil picks up on to unlock the steering and iginition switch.

Have you tried turning the key, about 20deg, then back to 0 a couple of times and then tried to turn the key all the way??

The L322 EWS Imobiliser system has a setting that if the ignition key is not placed in the ignition within 60 seconds of unlocking the car, it will turn the active coil off preventing the ignition key from being turned....to re-liven the active coil you need to do this 20deg turn and back to 0 to switch it back on to re-recognise the key.....

Excerpt from RAVE:

.....If the vehicle is unlocked and the ignition key is not put into the ignition switch, the immobilisation ECU de-energises
the transponder coil and goes back into the sleep mode after approximately 60 seconds. When the ignition key is
subsequently put into the ignition switch and turned through 10 to 20deg, the steering lock senses the movement and
sends a 'request electronic vehicle immobiliser status' message on the K bus. The message wakes the immobilisation
ECU, which energises the transponder coil and commences the transponder/ignition key identification and engine
mobilisation process.....

The steering lock and ignition lock will only disengage when the key is in the ignition.....I am not sure what you are hearing when you unlock the car, but it won't be the steering lock in my eyes!

Update..... had the vehicle recovered to the garage this afternoon, managed to lift the plastic surround around the gearbox and use the lever within to shift it into neutral so it could go on the beavertail.

Garage are starting with basics such as battery and trying the spare key etc so going through a process of elimination!

More updates as I get them.

My money will be on steering column fault, if you Google key won't turn ignition L322 the web is littered with workarounds , more now than there used to be and some have even removed the steering lock but the ignition barrel needs to get a reply from the steering column to trigger the key to turn so you can't just remove everything.if you are getting the click it is trying to unlock
Either that or a flat battery isn't supplying enough charge to the solenoid if you are lucky.
I have heard of one case of a faulty ignition barrel
Ask Saint how he knows not to drop the little plastic bit out of the fob

holidaychicken said:

......
Ask Saint how he knows not to drop the little plastic bit out of the fob

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Not done it myself......when I say that, I have dropped it and shat meself because I'd be buggered if I could find it.....then it turned up hiding on the floor under the table I was working on......so gave a HUGE sigh of relief as I only have one key!!

The steering column contains a small ECU and this has been known to go bandy.....I place a bet on that horse too.....

I remember you dropping it and finding it again amazingly which means you have a tidy workshop, I dropped my RR in my garage and couldn't find it for a week. That is a lie because my RR won't even fit in my garage ....
Anyway what happened to your transmission , did you do it in the end mate?

Was`nt there a bit of a write about this problem in (dare I say it) the LRO mag not so long ago, had to drill a small hole somewhere to get oil in to it.

Bit of an update

The chaps went through nearly all of the checks / fixes suggested on forums including drilling and lubricating the column, new battery etc but the bloody thing would still not turn! One of the Guys decided to have a look at the ignition barrel, cleaned it out, lubricated it, cleaned the keys, checked the wiring and BOOM it now starts and normal service has resumed!!

Happy to be driving looking above the hedge rows again

Next Month / when it gets warmer we start on the woes of sat nav / stereo / etc not working!

Thanks to all those who helped.

Great result then, that is now two i have heard of with the ignition barrel at fault, thanks for posting the result as well