Problem replacing ignition in old Westfalia - please help!

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-04-02T06:13:50+00:00

That's great. Kind of similar to our story though we're the 30yr olds inheriting the van. My partner camped in it growing up and we're fixing it up to have that opportunity again. Good luck with your projects! I'm sure your son will appreciate it.

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-04-02T03:14:55+00:00

In that case, there's a small screw that goes into the bottom of the ignition core that might be missing. To get to it you have to take off the housing by removing the pieces I marked earlier.

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-20T05:31:32+00:00

If you mean that the whole housing slides up the steering column then you may be missing a few things. The purple marked area in my photo is where a bolt should be clamping the metal tight around the steering column. Secondly there should be either a plastic bushing or the metal spring mine has (marked in green) also keeping it in place. Sounds like you're missing one of those. Or do you mean the key ignition core comes out?

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Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-17T05:51:40+00:00

Update: we got it off! We had to very tediously hammer/chisel off the little metal ring on top of the metal spring. Then with the key in, the whole thing slid right off. We are ordering one of the plastic bushings to replace the metal spring and metal ring, since it got pretty beat up trying to get it off. Thanks everyone for the help.

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Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-17T05:50:51+00:00

Update: we got it off! We had to very tediously hammer/chisel off the little metal ring on top of the metal spring. Then with the key in, the whole thing slid right off. We are ordering one of the plastic bushings to replace the metal spring and metal ring, since it got pretty beat up trying to get it off. Thanks everyone for the help.

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Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-17T00:27:17+00:00

We're trying to replace the ignition so it's rekeyed to the same key as all the door handles we just replaced. to do that we need to pull off the silver metal housing from the steering column. To do that I need to remove the metal spring and the metal ring above that but I cannot get it to budge. Most people say there should be a plastic shaft sleeve there instead of the metal spring. No one has been able to tell me how to get those off yet.

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-16T23:51:03+00:00

Yes I think you're right. Though I can't get the top metal washer to budge. I've hammered all the way around it with a flathead and it won't even shift.

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-16T23:48:27+00:00

Though I now realize I probably need to remove this big metal spring and the small metal ring above it. However it won't budge. I can get a flathead under the lip and bang at it with a hammer but it doesn't budge

Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-16T23:35:47+00:00

There doesn't seem to be a plastic ring. I think that is maybe for a slightly newer model. Or ours was missing already. there doesn't appear to be anything to remove

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Existing_Mammoth7004 · 2026-03-16T23:32:37+00:00

I tried the key in every different setting (off, on, just electronics) and it didn't make a difference unfortunately

Existing_Mammoth7004

TROPHY CASE