Ignition Switch Problems
Hello fellow io owners.
As our 2nd car, we have owned a 1999 4 door io auto for over 8 years now, 190,000 km and still going strong, my wife loves to drive it because of its excellent driving position; it is our town car (shopping trolly) which does not get much bush work so is still very tidy.
For some time now the ignition switch had been playing up and the key had to be manipulated to get the car started. I was told that i would have to replace the ignition switch with a new barrel and keys or fit a starter button to fix the problem.
After doing some research on other forums i finally found where an io owner in South Africa had the same problem and how he fixed in in only a few minuite and used only a cable tie to fix the problem.
As i have seen this problem pop up in several places i will tell you just how i fixed mine and could not believe how simple it was to fix and the excellent result it gave.
1, Remove ignition key.
2, Remove the 3 screws holding the bottom half of plastic steering colum cover and carefully remove the bottom cover with a bit of fiddling.
3, Replace key and turn backwards and fowards several times whilst watching the other end of the key barrel where the wires are plugged into it, it is held with 1 screw only.
4, If that end of the barrel moves and the screw is tight then this is the problem as there should be no movement.
5, Hold this end (left hand end) of key barrel tight with your left hand to stop any movement and at the same time turn the key to starting position with right hand, with luck key start should now work perfectly.
6, Now to fix the problem, take a cable tie about 200mm long and thread it around the steering colum bringing both ends across the middle of the round connector (its is about the same size as a 50 cent piece) and pull the cable tie tight so that there is now no movement in that connector.
7, Try starting the car again and hopefully you will be plesently surprised at how easy your car now starts, if so carefully replace the plastic bottom cover and the three screws, job done.
Cost, about 1/2 hour labour and 1x10 cent cable tie. Added bonus is my radio does not cut out as much when reversing up the driveway now.
pictures
Hi SIMMO777,
Glad the ignition switch quick fix worked out well for you also, and thank you for adding the photo, I did take a photo on the ipad but did not know how to add it, but could have emailed it to anyone interested.
Cheers.
Great fix, and thanks for sharing. If you want to put some pictures try to follow this link, it explain how to do it.
Happy io
CLAUDE IO, Thank you, I will
CLAUDE IO,
Thank you, I will have a look at and read through the link you suggested.Yes i am very happy with the result i got with my ignition switch fix and the improvement it also gave me with the radio now not cutting out. I am glad it worked for SIMMO777 and appears to have fixed a couple of problems his io was having.
Cheers,
terry_io
io ignition light bulb?.
Hi, i do not think my ignition switch bulb ever worked but after looking at it, if you remove the white plastic cover that sits around the ignition key it would appear that there is a glass surround there to disperse the light around the white plastic. One can only assume that there is a small bulb in the small black plastic box above it with a red and a white wire. Maybe some one else on the forum has the right answer for you, if i find out how to get to a bulb i will let you know.
Cheers
Pajero io Ignition Switch update.
About 2 years after fitting the cable tie around the ignition switch on my 1999 Pajero io it was starting to get a little sad in starting again and i was thinking it was time to fit a push button starter button.
Spoke to a motor electrician visiting next door about fitting a starter button but he suggested fitting a new starter switch at a cost of around $20 as he believed that would solve the problem.
Went on eBay and found one which i believed would fit ( 5 pin Ignition Switch Mitusbishi Lancer CH CJ CG CS Pajero Outlander and ordered it as mine has 5 pin connector and looked the same as that advertised.
About a fortnight later (snail mail) i received my switch only to find it was a 6 pin switch.
Emailed the supplier (ormondstar-autoparts) and they said to try the switch supplied and if it would not fit they would refund in full.
I fitted the 6 pin switch and my ignition now works like a new one and i reckon it is the best $20.89 i have ever spent.
Best way to fit was to remove the single screw holding the switch to the left hand end of the key barrel, slip the switch out then remove the larger 5 pin plug then the smaller plug will slip off. re assemble in same order.
Sure you will be happy as i was.
Cheers
Ignition Switch
Forgot to mention that the 6 pin ignition switch part no. is MR 449457 and it is the only one that they are offering at the moment, price now $25.99 but is cheaper on other sites. The switch is working perfectly.
I have the 5 door auto 1999 Pajero io QA with 4G93 motor, just about to turn over 200k.
Cheers.
thanks for this! My ignition
thanks for this! My ignition is a nightmare since i purchased the car.
initially i thought is was the immobilizer, just bought this switch thru aliexpress believe it or not haha.
I will have to wait for it to show up and am very excited to see weither it has fixxed my problematic ignition!
Ignition switch
Hi DUTCHPAJERO,
Read my first post on the ingition switch at top of page, it is fairly easy but a little fiddly to remove the plastic around the ignition switch, 3 screws underneath in bottom half then prise bottom half appart from top half with sharp blade and remove only bottom half completly then follow my instructions in earlier post to replace the switch itself.
Hope it works for you, mine is working perfectly and it was such a simple and cheap fix once i was told what to do.
Please let us know the result.
Cheers.
Syndicate
Champion!
I had EXACTLY what you describe! and fixed it tonight :) only got one photo but a few zipties fixed the issue! Also found out last week my locker wasn't engaging, I think something tripped with the dodgey ignition connection when turning on and off with the locker on... Guess what started to work again tonight! Saved us a trip to ARB in the morning! Big thanks to you!!!
2002 5dr Pajero IO QA 2.0L Auto - Lifted, Locked!! 1.925 Low Range - Muddies (205/80/16) - Redback Extractors to 200cell cat to dump at diff Exhaust