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I just replaced the ignition lock on a 98 Civic LX, so hopefully this will help.

Remove the plastic stuff from the steering wheel (three screws, then it separates by CAREFULLY pulling it apart. There are these little clips (two on each side) holding the top and bottom pieces together that can break fairly easily. On the good side, if you break one at least you can get at the other three and pull them apart with a thin screwdriver.

Anyway, now you can actually see the ignition lock. There's a Torx screw holding it in, with a little center post. That means you have to use one of the Torx wrenches with a hole in the middle. Auto Zone had a set for about $9. Take out the screw.

Put in the key and turn it to position 1.

Now. so that you and I are looking at the same thing, face the slot the key goes in. At about 2:00, a couple of inches along the top of the cylinder, there's a little black button in a hole. Push down on it with a thin screwdriver or unbent paper clip. It's spring loaded, so once it's pushed down you can remove the lock cylinder by pulling it out.

BUT DON'T!

Pull it out a little. Look at the bottom, and you'll see there's a thin piece of metal that fits into it. If at all possible, pull down on the metal so that it doesn't come out with lock. If you can do that, the rest is a snap. You finish pulling out the cylinder, leaving that metal strip in place. You take the new lock, turn the key to 1, start to slid it in, get that metal piece into position on the bottom of the new lock, and then slid the whole thing in all the way (yes, you have to press down on that black button to get it in.) It will click into place as the black button pops up in to the hole, so you know it's in as far as it will go.

Now, let's say that you pulled out the lock cylinder and that long metal piece came out with it, or popped out of its channel, as might have happened to some of us (a-hem.)

It's a bit of a pain, because that metal strip also has a spring. When the key is off, the end of the strip goes up into the body of the lock cylinder. When you turn the key, it pushes that end down, the other end goes up, and I don't know what happens from there. But the spring pushes it back into the lock cylinder when you take the key out, so you need it.

Here's what the strip looks like: it's about 3 inches long, with a small curve up on each end, the end that goes into the cylinder is the longer than the other end. In about the middle of it, there a U shaped piece of wire made from the same thing they make paper clips out of (that thickness and roundness.) There's also a little bump on the underside, and NEXT to that bump is a very slight bump which is where the spring pushes up. Assuming the whole thing came out, you've now got this metal piece, a spring, and no way to get it all back in again.

Okay, here's what you do. On the underside of the lock cylinder housing (the thing you took the lock cylinder out of), you'll see a little black plastic plug , attached by one Philips screw. Take it off, you now have access to the underside of the lock cylinder.

Take the new lock cylinder, turn the key to position 0, and fit the metal piece into the underside of it. Now, slide the whole thing in, making sure that the U shaped wire goes into the slot for it - don't worry, you'll see it. It's not as complicated as it seems here, it's just there's no picture I can show you. You won't be able to put the lock cylinder all the way in because the key is in the 0 position, but that's okay. Turn it to the 1 position now, and slide the lock cylinder all the way in. Now, very carefully, take the spring and compress it between your fingers. Slide it in through the hole in the bottom of the housing, where you took that black plug off. Get the top of the spring in first, then push the bottom in just enough so it doesn't pop out. Now, take a tweezers and fiddle around until you've moved the bottom of the spring into position, which is actually a very small bump. See that shiny flat spot on the bottom of the housing? The bump is on the other side, so you just have to move that spring about a 16th of an inch over from where it is now. Got it? Good, now put the plug back on before something happens!

Test it out by turning the key. It should all work. Thankfully, I don't know what happens if it DOESN'T work, but it can't be good.

I looked all over the net, in the Honda shop manual, in Hayes, Chiltons, etc. and nobody mentioned that damn spring. Sorry if it sounds confusing, but once you do it you'll see it isn't that bad.

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Q: How do you replace the ignition key lock cylinder for a 1999 Honda civic?
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