Oh man, first off, my car always seems to get one serious problem a month. But, sorry for the rant, here's the problem:

About one week ago, I was driving to college. Everything was fine until I parked and tryed to turn the car off. The car wouldn't turn off because the key would NOT move out of its position. It was stuck and wouldn't budge at all. The only thing is that you could only move it forward, which, of course, causes the starter to engage WHILE the engine is still running. I finally got the car to shut off by moving it forward real quick (which engages the starter and makes a wonderful noise ), jiggling the key, and then going back real quick. It takes about 4 or 5 tries to get it to move back and shut the car off. And, of course, having to do this is ruining my fairly new starter. Now this happens about every other time I start the car. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on this problem? I have no idea what to do.

 

Start with graphite lube.

If that doesn't work, you need to replace it.

 

I hear you with the major problem a month with our cars, I'm battling gas flowing out of the throttle body myself.

Like owned says, lube up the lock cylinder, and if it doesn't work, like mine didn't a year ago, it's time for a new one :-(

 

I think what I'm going to do is lube the lock cylinder, use another key I have, just to be sure, and if that doesn't work, get a new lock cylinder.

So, if I do need a new lock cylinder, 1.) Where do you think I should get one?, and 2.)How hard is it to install yourself? I have done some hard things to my car (rebuilt engine, installed tach, etc.) but I'm just wondering how hard it really is.

Oh, and thanks for the help so far and the quick responses.

 

Owned is right. You can start by applying powdered graphite (preferably white graphite) to temporarily free up the tumbler plates. Do not use any liquid lubricants or oils.

Chances are that the brass plates are so worn now that anything you do will only be temporary. If you have a new key copy, instead of the old worn key, it may work a bit better for a while - maybe. Your eventual replacement is sitting on the shelf at the parts store, and you're "lucky" that you have VATS for security's sake, but the replacement cylinder is going to cost you more as a result. You'll need to measure the resistance of the current key blank and be sure to get a new key with the same resistance for your new lock cylinder.

 

If your car has the Chip in the key for the VATS, then you'll have to go to the dealer and buy a whole new cylinder, which is expensive. Otherwise, you can use a normal cylinder, but you'll have to lookup the article on how to bypass the VATS, then you'll lose that security feature. The cylinder is a bitch to get at as well. There are so many retaining clips and stuff in the steering column, you may need the special tools to get at them. I tried for 2 days, and couldn't get all the way down to where the cylinder is. I had to get raped by the dealer, again :-(

 

The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. I lubed it up with graphite, which worked for a while. It lasted about a week and then i had to replace it.

So eventually no matter what you will have to replace it. It's really easy and can be done in a 1/2 hour if you have a steering wheel puller.

 

I think I am just going to go ahead and try to replace it myself. Thank your for all of your help.

 

Well, I'm in the process of replacing the bad lock cylinder myself. It's not quite as hard as I first thought. But I do have one problem. To get the old lock cylinder wire out, I need to remove that clear plastic wiring protector that sits directly under the steering column. The only thing is that I have no idea how to get this out. Does anyone know how to take it off or have any suggestions? This is the last thing I need to do before reassembly.