I have had my car for a little over a week and if you turn the key all the way back to lock, sometimes it seems like the tumblers in the ignition lock up and wont turn. My good friend has an 86 that he got from his brother that had ignition problems and currently has a pull swith in the steering colum to start it due too some ignorance. Then yesterday i was lookin at an 87 firebird at an old used car lot and you could see some vise grips hangin from the steering colum....... is this a comon problem or random coincidence????

 

I think it may be just GM in general. The design wasn't all that great. I ended up buying the tools to tear appart the columns so I could replace the switch. I've probably replaced 10-12 of them so far and it has been on all gm cars.

NOTE**All the ones that I replaced were all over 10 years old.

 

I've been wondering this too! NO ONE can start my car except for me. I have to put the key in... **sometimes the key won't even GO in all the way...** THEN... TURN BACK really hard... then push in more while I'm turning back... then turn it forward kinda quick... I wish I could get this fixed cuz I hate it!

 

No problems with my 16 year old ignition switch... sometimes people get "smart", and spray WD-40 into a key hole (doors, ignition, house locks, etc). They think it lubes the lock. WD-40 will clean the lock of ALL graphite lube, and you wind up with a sticking lock. The proper lube is graphite based, and you can usually find it at any auto parts store or hardware store. Just remember your keys will have a black film on them after the first few uses, either wipe the key down with a tissue or don't wear white pants!

 

another problem is the keys themselves, they are made of some fairly soft metal and the points and ridges wear down on them over time and cause the tumblers not to fall as they should. you should be able to take it to a lock smith and they can make you a new key.