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Locksmith help needed – broke key in Terex ignition switch.

Started by Bibbyman, February 20, 2010, 02:40:46 PM

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Bibbyman

We managed to break the key off in the Terex ignition switch.  Due to the odd way the switch key is made and operates, the broken off part of the key is "down in" the tumbler and we can't get at it to pick it out.

The switch is pretty complex.  First the key must push a little trap door open at the top.  Unless this trap door is pushed open, the switch won't turn.  Then the whole tumbler pushes out about 1/10" once it's off the "off" position.  To turn the ignition off,  the key must be turned back and pushed in.  The tumbler section of the switch does not start until about 1/4" under the trap door – giving the trapdoor space to swing open.

We took the switch to the local NAPA store with the hope that maybe there would be a generic switch we could get to replace this one.  The NAPA guy said no way unless we cut off the connector and put each wire on separately – no plug and play.

He did jump on the switch like a goose on a junebug.  We had noted a hole at the base of the tumbler but could not do anything by probing into it to get the tumbler out.  He NAPA guy was insistent that the tumbler should come right out if the pin in the hole was pushed.  He worked and wiggled on it for 5 minutes and made no headway.





Here is the ignition switch.  The arrow points to the hole that looks to be the key to removing the tumbler.

Any locksmiths out there?  Ever seen anything like this before?
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

james

the hole is to release the tumbler , BUT it only works with the switch in one position , and that position is different with each machine
james

Bibbyman

Quote from: james on February 20, 2010, 06:49:11 PM
the hole is to release the tumbler , BUT it only works with the switch in one position , and that position is different with each machine
james


I've tried it in every position but standing on my head!

In the "Run" position it looks like it aligns up with something but I can't push it by hand with a small screw driver.  Does it require a lot of force?

We've got a backup plan in the works.  I found one on E-bay and have it on order.  But if I can get this one fixed, I'll use it.  If the other comes first, I'll still try to get the old one fixed for a spare.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

dovetails

1984 wm lt30,ford 3000 w/frt lift,several chain saws, 1953 model 30 Vermeer stump grinder,full wood working shop, log home in the woods what more ya need?

Bibbyman

Quote from: dovetails on February 21, 2010, 04:42:41 AM
Just got to ask, how did you break the key off?

That's right up there with "Well, where did you loose it?"  ;D

Let's see.  We've been running it for 8 years.  We don't let it run all day so every day it gets started and shut down at least a dozen times.  I don't have a picture of the key but it got a big rubber handle part and then the key itself is only about 5/8" long and about 1/4" wide - about as heavy as a briefcase key.  We don't take it out of the switch so that part didn't wear going in and out.

Also there is the actions that the key has to do - push and turn, etc.

This is the second key that broke. The first one broke not long after we got the machine.  But it off with some sticking out so we could get ahold of it.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Faron

We broke one off in our Ford 276 bi directional tractor.  It broke off quite a way in the keyhole, so for a while we could just stick the broken off key in and start the tractor.  Seems to me we took the switch out and used a magnet and gravity to get the key out.  It was the only key we had, so we glued it back together so we could use it to make a new one.  The way you describe yours, I am not sure you can get it out with a magnet.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Bibbyman

Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

LAZERDAN

I've hade this happen to me. on the gen set.   did you try a medical tweezers ( you may have to grind it narrower)  they usually have the little spikes that dig in.  If you can tap and pull and again and some luck.. good luck   Lazerdan

trim4u2nv

Try to put the broken piece back in by pressing the shutter and tumblers aside.  If you can get both pieces aligned properly the key will turn and you can press the release ring through the acess hole you showed in prior posting.   The plug will pull out and you can replace it or remove the broken key fragment.   

If you cant get the plug to turn you can pull the fragment and the head of the key together using guitar strings,  welding tip cleaners, or small fret saw blades.  This might take some dexterity and some previously mentioned medical tweezers or hemostats.  Just slide your tools down the millings in the key fragments and use a good light to see the inner workings.

Bibbyman

Thanks for the help. 

The tumbler will turn to all positions.  The "run" position there looks to be something in the hole.  But I can't get it depressed using a paper clip or jeweler's screwdriver and hand pressure alone. 

Do I need to use more force?  As in drive a nail into it?

The broken key fills the hole completely and flush to the top of the tumbler.  We've used such items as a straight pin and not been able to get past the top of the key.

I have another switch unit on the way.  Once I've got it and the machine back up running.  I'll find some way to get the key out of this one – even if I have to destroy it in the process!


Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

trim4u2nv

If the key fills the hole completely then turn it to the off position (otherwise the key wont come out.)  Take a dremel tool or similar item (pc board drill or dental drill) and cut into the soft brass and make a toehold and pull the key out with a dental pick.

Paul_H

trim4u2nv
That's what my next door neighbour did for me when the key broke off in our Case 1840.He was a locksmith a few years back and had a knurled or jagged pick that dug into the key enough that he could snag it out with a few tries.


Bibbyman,

The way you describe the key,I think ours are the same.The keys weaken over time and then snap,it's gone.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

beenthere

Possibly try a very small coping saw blade, shoved down alongside the broken part with the teeth angled back.
If too little room, grind the set off the teeth on one side opposite the key.

Years ago managed to get one out that way. But don't know if there is room on yours to do that.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

trim4u2nv


DanG

Put a tiny drop of Super Glue on the part that ain't in there and stick it to the part that is in there.  Better yet, replace the switch with a toggle switch and a button.  I sure as heck wouldn't put another key switch like that one in there.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

ely

my bobcat key is broke now, been broke for awhile. waiting for a replacememnt key. so i been using a small screwdriver to crank it.

Bibbyman

We used the Terex for days by sticking the broke off part back in the switch.  But we didn't want to go on living that way.  We have two extra keys but they do little good with the one broken off in the switch.  I never had an idea it'd be this difficult to get the borken key out.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

pineywoods

The last time I had to extract a broken off key, I pried the electrical switch part off. Then drilled a small hole, about 1/8 inch in the back of the tumbler block and ran a small pin punch through the hole. Pushed the broke off key out from the back..I'm with Dang, I'd replace the whole thing with a toggle switch and a push button switch.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

DanG

Ya know, as I think about this more, I'm gettin' plumb mad!  Just what the heck are those people thinking?  I mean, they build a big fine heavy duty machine like that and sell it for big bucks, and then equip it with a rinkydink toy key that habitually breaks off in the switch!!  For cryin' out loud, the key for our minivan is stout enough you could open oysters with it and you can have a new one made for a buck!  A lousy DOLLAR!  Can you imagine being a building contractor and having six redi-mix trucks lined up waiting on that machine, just to have it disabled by a broken key? :o :o :o  And the real sad thing is that Terex knows about the problem and has known about it for a long time, and hasn't done a DanG thing about it.  All the while, their CEO is "earning" million$ a year to run a tight ship!  I'd like to ask one of those people how they manage to sleep at night, or swallow their filet mignon without choking!
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Bibbyman

DanG!  You're madder'n I am about it.   :-\

Add ADCO to the list then because I had a switch go out on our tractor.  That was some time back.  It cost over $60 for a new one.  At least we were able to find one for $28.17 on e-bay.

The way we used the Terex is probably not like most people.  We start and stop it at least a dozen times a day.  If it were used in some application where it had one driver using it until noon break and then again after noon, then the key would be used far less.

The same thing with our mill.  Being electric, we turn the motor off and start it a lot more than we would if it were an engine.   We've got 8 years and about 5,000 hours on that switch.  Its probably been cycled a couple 100,000 times by now.  But it appears to be a simple generic switch we could probably find in town. 
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

pigman

I broke a key off in the ignition of an old international truck with my foot a long time ago. It was not the way some of you are thinking. ::) My older brother was driving and rolled the truck over two times. On one of the roll overs my foot hit the key whille I was trying not to go out the open window.  My brother blamed me for breaking the key. ::)  We just hammered a fence staple into the key slot and used it that way until we junked the truck years later.
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

ellmoe

   I've got a Fiat-allis loader with the key broken off in the switch. Luckily, there is enough room for a flat-head screwdriver to be inserted behind the key and then to turn the switch. As for replacing the switch with a toggle, most of the loaders now have a half dozen different wires running out of the switch. I think you'd need a bank of switches! ;D

   Speaking of switches, the ones on my Volvo loaders go bad every year. At a hundred bucks a pop, times two, it's a little perturbing! >:(

Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

jamesamd

If You can see the broken end of the key when You lift the trap door.
Using a NEW 1/16" drill bit,lightly twist the cutting edge into any piece You can,push gently
in the direction of the bite and pull evenly.

Jim
All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

Bibbyman

I was thinking today of taking it by my dentist.  He has the right tools and the skills needed to work on something broken off in the bottom of a hole.   Just a thought.  I won't do it but then again, I just may.  He may see the humor in the question.

P.S.  Thre is a lot going on with this switch.  It has twelve pins in the base.  The clump of wires go into a round connector block that plugs in to the 12 connectors.  It wouldn't be impossible to cut and rewire all that stuff.  It's just a lot easier to pay the fiddler and plug in a new one.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Paul_H

Do it,then your Dentist has something else to add to his "Old Farts" thread he started on the dental forum he frequents  :D
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

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