I came out of a store and got in the Rover and the key went in but woudn't turn. I called a locksmith who worked with it for about 20 minutes and said there was nothing he could do. There's no moving the vehicle without being able to turn the key, so I had the rover picked up and hauled to my Rover shop. To make a long story short, he had a new switch overnighted and installed it yesterday. The new switch has a different key which will only work in the ignition. The old key, which of course has the remote on it, has to remain with me for remote use and for the driver's and rear door. Here's where it gets interesting. My Rover guy's supplier has sent my Rover's VIN # to the factory so that they can make me a switch that will fit my old key. I should receive that in about 45 days. At that point I take it back in and trade out the temporary switch for the new switch so I can then use my old key for everything. All of this is for a total cost of about $800.00. I'm amazed at how complicated and expensive this switch thing has become. I'm thankful that I have a Rover guy who would drop everything and get me back on the road the next day, though. That was worth a lot. The dealership was absolutely no help, had wrong information about my options, was going to be more expensive, and wouldn'thave even lookedat the thing for over a week. Has anybody else heard of anything similar?

 

Talk to a lock smith about rekeying your new tumblers to your old key.
Mike

 

Mike,
I was told by the dealer,the locksmith who came to try to fix it in the parking lot,and by my Rover guy (who was told by his supplier)that the tumblers can't be changed on these. The dealer even told us that the switches can't be ordered for a specific key, which obviously isn't true.

At this point I've already got things in motion and I'd probably only save about 50 bucks at best by using a locksmith anyway. When you're stranded in a parking lot at 4 pm in an area known for vandalism the options are kind of limited, so I didwhat I did. For the good of others here who may run into a similar situation, though, would I have saved myself a lot of this by using a better locksmith in the first place?

 

I have had a similar experience with my 95 disco. The key won't turn for sometimes up to 2 minutes or so, but I canalways (so far)jiggle it enough that it eventually turns. It seems like the teeth just aren't catching well. I've thought about shooting some WD-40 into the keyhole just to see if some lubrication will do the trick, but I don't know if that's the best product to use. Sorry that you ended up stranded. I've thought that I was going to be stranded several times.

Any help on a good lubricant to try?

 

Try some graphite in the lock. The graphite helped my ignition key work better. Don’t use too much or you will have a mess. You will probably need to wipe your key a few times after using the graphite or you will have it on your hands and clothes. You might try silicone spray instead.

 

I have had the same problem with my DII but eventually mine would turn. I was on the verge of calling someone about a month ago when it wouldn't turn. LR said it was a security feature... yeah right, my indy mech said that was not true. But since then it has been fine I just take it out and keep trying.

 

I stuck the key in so many times I'm still wearing a bandaid on my nuckle where I rubbed the skin off against the dash. [sm=smiley29.gif]

 

Had the same problem for 2 years, just tap the lock ( where the key goes in) with a small hammer. Frees it up every time for me.

 

Graphite in the keyhole seems to have helped considerably. By the way, my 95 disco does have a steering wheel lock that will prevent the key from turning. If you park the car with the wheel turned it's pretty easy to accidentally engage the steering wheel lock ... I've done it just grabbing the steering wheel as I get out of the car. No amount of force or jiggling can overcome the steering wheel lock.

By the way, the steering wheel lock IS supposed to be a security feature, but I don't know anyone who actually uses it, and it usually just creates confusion.

 

Is this ignition lock problem common for Land Rovers? The ignition on my 2003 Discover SE7 is locked, and I could'nt drive my children to school this morning! Very frusterated!