When is a 10 not a 10?

[Editor's note: This post will only be of interest to persons with some experience with tools. If you aren't a tool head, you're excused from following through with this rant.]

I'll tell you when a 10 is not a 10 but only a 9.8; its when Chrysler, somehow, in their short sighted engineering world decides that a screw that should have a Torx headed screw with a size 10, 6-pointed hole in it, to fit a size 10 Torx driver, is really only a 9.8 sized hole!

First, if you don't know, there is a fairly common type of screw in use today that uses what is (supposed to be) an industry standard, 6 pointed drive socket in its head. There are corresponding tools with star shaped tips that fit exactly into the matching screw head. These tools and holes are supposedly standard across the industry and world and labeled as T10, T15, T20 and up through the largest one I own, a T50. These screws and tools are designed for lots of reasons, not the least of which is to make assembly line operation faster and to reduce the "stripping" of screw heads by common or phillips headed screwdrivers.

 http://www.torp-fasteners.no/style/documents/torx.pdf

Why do I tell you all of this? Because last night I was thwarted in the replacement of the ignition switch on the Dodge Neon I am trying to make work by 1 tiny screw with a head that should be T10 sized. I tried 3 different T10 sized tools, after 2 trips to the Craftsman store, and none of them would fit the screw that some Chrysler weenie specified and later some assembly line person installed! One tiny little screw dammit!

I carried one down from my toolbox at home yesterday in anticipation of changing the switch because the Chilton's manual that I bought spells out that a T10 tool is required. And, it was too big. I blamed it on the fact that my tool probably came from Harbor Freight and maybe the chinese company that stamped it out got it wrong. So, we made a trip to Sears and bought 2, T10 sized screwdrivers. One was too long and so would not line up with the screw but the shorter tool was likewise to big on the tip to fit into the screw hole… We went back to Sears, this time I had to buy a $25 multi-tool with individual bits to get a T10 sized item. And, again, when I got back to the car and down on my knees with my head under the dash in the quickly failing daylight, the tool was again bigger than the hole in the screw!

Hooverdamm!

I can't for the life of me figure out what dumbass trick Chrysler did to make this screw not fit the standard tools. Whatever the reason, there is absolutely no call for such goofieness. Its not just the retaining switch for the switch either, the screws that hold the ignition lock mechanism to the steering column are likewise undersized.

Today when I go back I'm taking my cordless drill, drill bits and my Dremel tool and I'm going to cut the head off the screw. Then (and this is all part of the plan…) I'll be able to remove the switch and use Vice-Grips on the screw shaft to get it removed. I really need to get this project finished so I can get back onto my own projects that are backing up!

UPDATE: That's it, I quit! The car has been towed to a shop and tomorrow some paid professional can figure out what is wrong with it. I did find smaller Torx drivers, 1 individual bit with the Theft Resistant screw hole in it and a folding set for the normal Torx screws. And guess what, of course I needed the single bit TR tool, which of course broke when I tightened in the screw after replacing the iginition switch.

And of course the new switch did not fix the problem, leaving a brand new but unneccesary switch installed and no tool to remove it... Rats! I also found a relay that I had overlooked the other day after digging deeper into the wiring schematic and a trip to the dealer to buy that part still didn't fix the no-start problem.

So, I gave up. Kye called a shop that had done work for him before and we got it towed down there before they closed up shop for the night. I don't know what's wrong with it but I'm mighty interested in hearing their results.

Tomorrow- I can get back to working on the Tempo so I can get it out of my driveway.