Small Victories Fire Me UP

I feel like a champion today. My 98 Camry's ignition lock cylinder has been slowly dying for a year. It finally got to the point where I would have to try turning the key 50 time or more before the mechanism would rotate and fire the engine.

I purchased the Chilton Repair manual and saw internet sites saying that I had to take off the steering wheel and other complex procedures. Other web pages said that you just pull of some panels turn the key to ACC and push a magic button.

I decided to buy the part and try. I figured the worst I would do is start the job for the qualified mechanic. 15 minutes later, I had the old cylinder out and the new one in. But, the car wouldn't start because the new keys didn't have the transponder chip in them. A call to a local locksmith solved the problem. he told me to bring the new lock cylinder over, and he would key it to my old keys. A little over an hour later that included a bike ride to to the locksmith, his work time and re-installation my cars done.

$130 in parts and $20 for the not useful repair manual saved me at least $200. More importantly, it's good to fix things myself.