I am not a tech but I perform most of the labor on my 1990 Corrado. I have had three 90 Corrados so far and they all had their ignition switch fail. I also had to fix the lock cylinders in two of them.

The common failure for the key ignition is that it wears out and the belts malfunction going back and forth. In the case of the lock cylinder, the ignition will start failing once in a while. It seems like you have to push the key almost all the way until it makes the proper contact. Eventually it will stop making contact.

REMOVE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER TRIM PIECE

This piece is easily removed by unscrewing four screws. Two of them are located on top and the other two underneath two little plastic covers on the lower corners.

REMOVE THE KNEE PADS

Start by removing the two trim panels that cover the underside of the

dash. Then remove the two knee pads. There are two screws on the

bottom of the knee bar. Remove them and tug and pull till the clips

release. Its on pretty tight. The knee bar has clips built into the frame that

clip onto a large metal sub-frame, so if it feels like its stuck keep pulling,

it will pop out.

REMOVE THE STEERING WHEEL & COLUMN COVER

The horn pops off to reveal the 25mm bolt holding the wheel on. Unbolt and remove steering wheel. There are three screws on the underside of the steering column. Once removed

the two plastic pieces are held together by 4 to 6 plastic clips. Take the

bottom half off first, to expose the bolt (faces downward) that holds the

tilt lever on. Remove the bolt and lift the lever up and extract through opening., then remove the top plastic cover. The turn signal & wiper control levers are held on with three screws facing toward you. The left lever came off easily. The right lever was not so easy, you have to unplug all the electrical connections before you attempt to pull it out and let it hang between your knees.

REMOVE THE IGNITION SWITCH

At this point you should be able to see the entire lock cylinder assembly. The lock cylinder is encapsulated in an aluminum T shaped frame. At the very end you should be able to see the connector to the ignition switch that needs to be removed. With a very short and small Phillips screwdriver remove the single screw that holds the ignition switch to the lock cylinder assembly. This screw is facing the firewall, It might be hard to see it but if you look at the new switch that you purchased you can pinpoint where it is located. You will need to introduce your hand through the opening left by the instrument cover and make the screwdriver face yourself to remove the screw . It is tricky but it will save a lot of time by not removing the lock cylinder assembly which WILL NOT come out by simply removing the two 10 mm screws that hold it to the steering column. It needs a lot of extra work and tools according to the Bentley manual. After the screw has been removed pull out the old switch and replace

FIXING (OR REPLACING) THE LOCK CYLINDER

First you will have to drill a hole (This is specified in the Bentley Manual, I’m not crazy) into the lock cylinder casing . Look at the casing, it has a flat surface on top and round sides. The left edge of this flat surface is our reference point. The hole should be located on the curved surface 10 mm to the left of this edge (from the driver’s view) and 10 mm from the edge of the casing that meets the black semi conical key opening. Drill the curve perpendicular to the casing curve. The lock cylinder is held into place by a metal strip which acts as a stop spring. This hole will create an opening right over it so you can put a small screwdriver through and apply pressure on this spring while pushing the cylinder out of its casing.

Once you pull it out, check for performance. In both cases where I had to change it the problem was that the half moon shaped shaft from the lock cylinder was unable to turn the ignition switch all the way in order to make contact. I believe this was caused over the years due to the twisting force of the spring in the ignition switch. A quick fix is to hold the cylinder with any clamping mechanism and gently twist the shaft about 5-10 degrees counter clock wise from the shaft’s end point of view . Re-insert and try again, this should fix the problem. You just saved 200-300 dollars in labor and material and the hassle of a new key just for the ignition. If this is not your problem you will have to insert a new lock cylinder and put it all back together. If you have any questions please e-mail me.