during a heated argument with my passenger, traveling at approx 35 MPH,he violently slammed the column sifter into park AND ripped the keys out of the ignition while we were still in motion. Slamming on the brakes as a natural response, the truck made a hideous noise and came to a stop. Now the problem is a locked steering wheel, locked shifter and locked ignition. What happened internally and what could have gone wrong
I assume the ignition key will not longer go into the cylinder or the cylinder will not turn. All the other ‘locked’ conditions are most likely the result of the ignition cylinder not turning. The ‘hideous noise’ was the parking pawl trying to engage the cog wheel on the output shaft of the transmission. If your karma is still good, no damage was done to the transmission.
BTW, dump the boyfriend as what he did could have killed you and him.
If they yanked the ignition key out of the ignition switch without first turning the ignition switch off, they owe you a new ignition switch.
Tester
Oh I dumped him alright!! this will cost me big $$$$ i think, to have fixed. Thankyou!
yes, the key was ripped out violently while in motion. what about the the steering column shifter that suffered a violent blow also (slammed from “drive” into “park”)?
thank you
Most likely, you just need a new lock cylinder. It is unlikely that the transmission was damaged from slamming it into park, although you do need to check that out. If it will hold the truck on a hill, it is okay. The lock cylinder is fairly easy to replace. If you have a 1995 or newer truck, you will have to take the new cylinder and your key to a locksmith to have it ‘coded’ to work with your truck before installation. Installation normally takes about an hour, and you will pay accordingly, unless you do it yourself. It’s best to have someone who’s done this before do the job.
Unless you can see damage to the shifter or steering column, there likely is no damage. They can be broken, but it’s hard to do and you would know right away if it was.