... how do I fix this? I was trying to do a little maintenance on the horn today, and tried to pull off the front wheel panel , right in the middle of the steering wheel, on my 88 4 rnr( How do you get that damn thing off, by the way???? I still don't know) Anyway, i am trying to get the wheel straight , so i can try and pull it off straight up, fron the top of the wheel, or the bottom of it. So I go to strraighten out the wheels. Without the key in the ignition, or the ignition in the '0n' position; the wheels locked straight.
Now my key won't budge at all, I have pushed down on that key release buttom, with the steering wheel pulled all the way up or down, and the key, like the steering wheel now, doesn't move even the slightest bit.
Any ideas out there? thanks.

 

Feather/jog the wheel from stop to stop(locking stops -- not limits of front wheel movement) while you try to rotate the key or pull it out. There should be little force required to move the wheel from stop to stop. It's possible to have the wheels and steering wheel configured in such a way as to put a lot of torque on the steering wheel. If that's the case, jack the front wheels off the ground to relieve the pre-load. That's all I can think of.

 

5spd or automatic?

 

Yeah like thook said. If it's auto make sure your in park. Haha I've done that before...

 

punch out the ignition lock >_<

 

The same thing happened in my '90 VW Golf.

But I tried to force it and broke the ignition. The idiot lights would come on when I would turn the key after that but I couldn't turn the car over. I ended up just wiring the starter through a push button.

So.....whatever you do, don't try forcing it! You're bound to f something up.

 

When you say "with the steering wheel pulled all the way up or down", I assume you're talking about the tilt.

If I were to guess, when you turned the wheels, switched to off and let go of the wheel, the wheels tried to move back to straight and put pressure on your key cylinder. Try twisting the steering wheel (you'll probably find it moves a little bit in one direction but not the other) to remove the pressure from your key cylinder and then turning the key.

Hope this is the problem.

 

I read the title and thought this was going to be another "I took out the to screws and pulled the plug out of my AFM" thread

 

it is a 5 speed, standard. and man, that wheel does not want to turn one way or the other at all, it seems. oh yeah, steering wheel , all the way up, or down, I was referring to the tilt.

oh yeah, i still need to know how to pull off that panel, that is in the middle of the steering wheel...
no horn is driving me crazy!!!!

 

There should be a little play in the steering wheel when the lock is engaged. Not much, but a little. If you can't get it to jog at all, I'd guess it's because you've got some preload because of the position of the front tires. Jack up the front end to relieve the preload and see what happens.

 

On an 88 4Runner you don`t remove the center of the steering wheel to fix the horn, you remove the whole steering wheel. The contact that needs to be replaced is part of the combination switch, so pull the complete steering wheel off and you will see the contact, they just wear down to nothing after many years of use. The part number for the contact is 84312-20011.

 

okay, there was a tiny bit of play in the wheel, jiggling it back and forth, real fast, and jiggling the key, got it to unlock; man i was sweating that one!!!
Finally, how do you remove that horn panel , in the center of the steering wheel? It is not an airbag panel, just a panel you push, with the pic of the little horn, on it, to honk the horn.

 

you cannot even see the contact by pulling that panel? which combo switch is it a part of, the left of right?

 

What panel are you talking about? Are you talking about the pad in the center? That's held on with a single screw at the bottom near the back edge.

 

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f77/...runner-105586/
check 4th and 5th pic down....

 

theres 2 screws on the backside of the wheel. real PITA to see. i ended up breaking mine off and buying a wheel from a 91 yoter truck.. little better...

 

What internetroadkill said. Once you have taken the screw out push up from the bottom on the pad to unlock the top clips. Then you can get to the steering wheel bolt.