Kevin
07-27-2011, 03:11 PM
Recently I had an issue with my power key not staying on all the time (thread can be found here (http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14958) ) and seeing as there was no good how to on how to fix this I decided to make one. I didn't bother taking pictures of most of these steps because they are pretty straight forward. All steps are given from sitting in the drivers seat.
Step one: disconnect the battery...if you need pictures here you're probably better off not tackling the rest of this yourself
step two: start to remove gear shift trim piece to gain access to the bolts at the bottom of the radio surround. This is quite easy. Lift up the arm rest and remove the two bolts covered by fabric at the front of arm rest storage area. 8mm and 7mm bolts I believe they are. then remove the bolt in the cupholder/ashtray area to the right of the gear shift in the front cup holder. I believe this in an 8mm bolt. Carefully lift this piece up and disconnect the interior hatch release, it's just two connects that slide off, and the cigar lighter which is also two clips then rotate this piece out of the way...no pictures here because....well I forgot
step three: remove the radio/ac trim piece and the center vent. the radio/ac peice is held on by three bolts with two at the bottom and one at the top right. The ac vent is held on by two torx screws.
Step four, remove the vent and place aside.
step five: remove the radio/ac/power key surround and disconnect the power key. this is attached by a black piece with three holes in it which serves as a guide and power supply to the key. Take this to a work bench or other location to work on it....I used the kitchen table...don't tell my wife.
The car should look like this now
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00135.jpg
step six: removal of the key cylinder. You should now be looking at this:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00142.jpg
This is the only part that gave me trouble because I was afraid of breaking the surrounding plastic and being out of pocket to try and find a new one. There is a black metal ring that holds the key cylinder in place under tension pictured below and can be seen above in the second picture if you look closely. I used a set of channel locks to remove the ring and the cylinder came out of the trim piece.
Ring:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00136.jpg
Step seven disassembly: You will now have the cylinder and the switch in your hand. I forgot to take a picture of this assembled. Sorry, about that. Here's where you may want to take a sharpie and make a mark on the metal and the white part of the assembly as a reference point. It will save you a few minutes later in the process, I used a sharpie but use whats handy. Now you will want to get a small flat head screwdriver or other such tool and work these two little clips out. These clips can be seen in the first picture posted in this thread.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00139.jpg
once you do the top part will slide out...either easily on its own or after you work at it with the screw driver to get it out. Either way you're going to end up with this.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00137.jpg
Once you get that part out turn it so that the open side is facing you and look for the side with two very small disks on it. It can....kinda...be seen on the top right of this picture....I need to remember my blackberry isn't a dslr when doing this...
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00138.jpg
You want to crimp the two disks so that they are close together and make a good connection. How close you ask? I don't know. I guessed and then checked with an ohm meeter.
Reassemble is just the reverse of this process. I used dielectric grease to make reassembly of the contacts into the cylinder easier this is your choice. The one thing you want to check before you reinstall the black ring is that the key is positioned properly inside the trim piece. Cycle the key and make sure it stops at "normal" and "full" and rotate the key until it does. Very easy, of course I had help from an expert so I wasn't as terrified as I would have been otherwise. Thanks for the help, you know who you are. The whole thing is very painless and quite easy. I hope you found this as helpful as I found it enjoyable to write. If you are unclear on any steps please ask about them and I'll try and give more info as best I can.
Total time including fighting with the ring, fishing my fat *** in and out of the car to get tools, and some interior cleaning/change removal, ~2hrs.
Pro-tip, take the roof off. you don't feel so fenced in then
Step one: disconnect the battery...if you need pictures here you're probably better off not tackling the rest of this yourself
step two: start to remove gear shift trim piece to gain access to the bolts at the bottom of the radio surround. This is quite easy. Lift up the arm rest and remove the two bolts covered by fabric at the front of arm rest storage area. 8mm and 7mm bolts I believe they are. then remove the bolt in the cupholder/ashtray area to the right of the gear shift in the front cup holder. I believe this in an 8mm bolt. Carefully lift this piece up and disconnect the interior hatch release, it's just two connects that slide off, and the cigar lighter which is also two clips then rotate this piece out of the way...no pictures here because....well I forgot
step three: remove the radio/ac trim piece and the center vent. the radio/ac peice is held on by three bolts with two at the bottom and one at the top right. The ac vent is held on by two torx screws.
Step four, remove the vent and place aside.
step five: remove the radio/ac/power key surround and disconnect the power key. this is attached by a black piece with three holes in it which serves as a guide and power supply to the key. Take this to a work bench or other location to work on it....I used the kitchen table...don't tell my wife.
The car should look like this now
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00135.jpg
step six: removal of the key cylinder. You should now be looking at this:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00142.jpg
This is the only part that gave me trouble because I was afraid of breaking the surrounding plastic and being out of pocket to try and find a new one. There is a black metal ring that holds the key cylinder in place under tension pictured below and can be seen above in the second picture if you look closely. I used a set of channel locks to remove the ring and the cylinder came out of the trim piece.
Ring:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00136.jpg
Step seven disassembly: You will now have the cylinder and the switch in your hand. I forgot to take a picture of this assembled. Sorry, about that. Here's where you may want to take a sharpie and make a mark on the metal and the white part of the assembly as a reference point. It will save you a few minutes later in the process, I used a sharpie but use whats handy. Now you will want to get a small flat head screwdriver or other such tool and work these two little clips out. These clips can be seen in the first picture posted in this thread.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00139.jpg
once you do the top part will slide out...either easily on its own or after you work at it with the screw driver to get it out. Either way you're going to end up with this.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00137.jpg
Once you get that part out turn it so that the open side is facing you and look for the side with two very small disks on it. It can....kinda...be seen on the top right of this picture....I need to remember my blackberry isn't a dslr when doing this...
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z181/cigarmanpa/powerkeyrebuild/IMG-20110727-00138.jpg
You want to crimp the two disks so that they are close together and make a good connection. How close you ask? I don't know. I guessed and then checked with an ohm meeter.
Reassemble is just the reverse of this process. I used dielectric grease to make reassembly of the contacts into the cylinder easier this is your choice. The one thing you want to check before you reinstall the black ring is that the key is positioned properly inside the trim piece. Cycle the key and make sure it stops at "normal" and "full" and rotate the key until it does. Very easy, of course I had help from an expert so I wasn't as terrified as I would have been otherwise. Thanks for the help, you know who you are. The whole thing is very painless and quite easy. I hope you found this as helpful as I found it enjoyable to write. If you are unclear on any steps please ask about them and I'll try and give more info as best I can.
Total time including fighting with the ring, fishing my fat *** in and out of the car to get tools, and some interior cleaning/change removal, ~2hrs.
Pro-tip, take the roof off. you don't feel so fenced in then