samsam865

ive got a 2007 rx 350. The steering wheel is locked and the key wont turn. ive tried everything, forcing the steering wheel left and right, forcing the gear shifter to neutral and moving the car. I even tried to spray some wd-40 on the key and then tryin it. does anyone have any sugestions thanks!

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

Do you have another Lexus? You might be using the wrong key

samsam865

I have owned 3 in the past but this is the right key it locks and unlocks the car.

jfelbab

I've had that issue and found I needed to really pull on the wheel to get the key to turn. Give that another try but give the wheel a lot of force.

samsam865

oh i have been. I thought it was going to break one time haha. but i just tried again and still no luck. Does anything need to be replaced? and if so do i have to go to the dealership to fix it or can any car shop fix it thanks

jfelbab

This is a feature called steering wheel lock. I've had this happen a couple times but was always able to unlock it by jiggling the wheel while applying pressure to the key. I don't know of any other way to fix this but I don't think anything is broken. I'd keep trying moving the wheel back and forth while applying even pressure to turning the key. It always finally unlocked for me.

If you really can't unlock it I guess you will need to have it towed to a dealer.

biff44

WD40 is the wrong stuff for a lock. It will eventually gum it up and make it worse than it is.

Get some graphite spray and put A LITTLE in the lock and then use the key to jiggle it into the tumblers.

Are the front wheels jammed against something, like a curb? That could put enough pressure on the wheel to make it very hard to turn and unlock.

Make sure the transmission is firmly in park too.

salimshah

Couple of people have had problems with the lock mechanism. Failures have been reported.

So do the stuff .. make sure gear is firmly in Park. Jiggle the keys while tugging on the steering wheel to release the tension on the catch. Make sure the temperature of RX is above freezing or use the heat-lubricant-for-frozen-locks.

If all fails, I would suggest call the dealer to discuss options of calling a locksmith or having your RX flat-bed to the right place.

Salim

triplecore

if u turn the wheel to left and holding it their and turning the key it should work. Or try turning the wheel to the right and hold it their while turning the key. It happened on our ML320 its a steering wheel lock as someone mentioned above.

CMAAN

This is happening to me. I've got a 2001 IS300 and I cant disable the security.

I had the car running when i turned the wheels all the way left to get access to the inside fender. i turned the car off but left the radio on. The key was clicked to ACC. The key is able to come out at that setting so i removed it so i could just have my keys in case the doors locked.

Now i can't turn the car on or even turn it completely off. i had to disconnect the battery to keep it from draining because of the radio being on. The wheel turns a little and normally would be enough to allow the key to turn but its still stuck. I really don't have the money to tow it and spend another 1k replacing the ignition switch. i need a way to disable the security and get the car running.

Please and thank you so much for any help.

I will starts by jacking the front end up seeing if it can relieve some pressure from the wheels being completely turned

pauljcl

There was another thread I had read some time back discussing the issue. If it is not due to the wheels/steering wheel being turned and cannot be solved by jiggling the steering wheel, someone wrote about another method. It would seem one or the other tumblers inside the lock can get 'frozen' in position. To try to release, tap gently (not TOO gently but certainly not hitting like a maniac.... - for example with the handle of a screwdriver) on the (outside) end of the key that has been inserted in the lock. Sometimes this makes the locked tumbler unlock. If successful, thereafter make sure to spray your lock with graphite so the tumbler(s) doesn't stick again.
This has not happened to me, but I would certainly try it if it did.
Good luck - and plse. let us know..... It certainly beats paying hundreds of $ to the dealer without trying this first.....

CMAAN

I found a thread that sounds if not fully identical to my problem. I'm mostly confused if I can replace the ignition myself or if the dealer has to because of ecu stuff. I'm also considering a push button start. What do you think?

Here's the link http://my.is/forums/f93/ignition-stuck-acc-help-please-315295/

ronmilberg

My wife had this problem last week in a 2008 RX-350, seems to favor cold weather. I sprayed one shot of Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant into the key opening, then hit the key opening with a blast of compressed air and let it dry out. Has been working fine since.

bagsbie

^ this was the solution for me... It's been a bit cold out lately, so yesterday the key would not turn despite trying anything. so, I purchased the lock de-icer and lubricant, sprayed into the ignition cylinder and that was it - the key turned effortlessly!

AdebMiami

I also own a 2007 RX 350 and yesterday had the same issue. This morning I followed the steps provided by someone else on this blog by spraying a Lithium Grease NON-OILY lubricant inside the ignition slot AND swung the car back and forth while the shift was in full parking position to then hard turn the wheel to the left. Immediately after I turned the key and the steering wheel unlocked while applying slight force to the left on the steering. It seems like the rocking motion of the car while in parking position does help to free up the thimbles inside the ignition mechanism.

I hope this will help others to save several hundreds of $$$ and avoid the dealership rip you off for something they can tell you over the phone instead.