Land Rover Repair: Land Rover Disco II ignition, head gaskets, hi john

Question
Hi John,

My husband just finished changing the head gaskets on our 2001 Disco II Series..after he had everthing in the engine put back together, he tried the ignition switch and it is frozen...he can't get the key to move either way...also the steering wheel is locked as well...any suggestions?   We used the key remote and no luck with that either...any help would be greatly appreciated.  Take care, Patty

Answer
The ignition lock is strictly mechanical.  There is nothing tricky to confuse you.  It's just a key, and a lock.  So either the key is damaged, or the lock failed.  It may surprise you to hear that failure of those locks is actually pretty common.

The key has two parts.  The key blade separates from the plastic part with the buttons.  Only the key and lock need be changed for lock failure.  If you want all the keys to match (doors and ign) you may have to buy a lock set.