where to start. First its a 94 4runner. Its my gf's and ashe lives in cali. I am going to be towing it back up to washington. It was broken into and i think someone jammed a screwdriver into the ignition making the key useless. I took out the whole steering colum to reomove the key cylinder. Here is the problem, you need the key in to remove it. How do i get this out to put a new one in? The steering wheel is locked and i need to be able to move it to put it on the tow dolly. Would a locksmith be able to help? any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I've been down this road, only the guy where I parked my rig at wouldn't give me back my key (long story). Take a paperclip to stick into the little hole on the assembly, press. While doing so, work a small flat tipped screwdriver around and work it out of there. Takes some patience, but can be done. I didn't break anything, LOL!

Where you insert the paperclip is what 'unlocks' the assembly from the column. If it's already had a screwdriver stuffed in the key slot, give that a try first with the paperclip before proceeding with what I suggested.

Took the assembly to a locksmith and got rekeyed once I got my rig out of there.

Good luck!