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On Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:42:24 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Nope. Gotta have it towed to the dealer, probably to replace the
>> ignition switch cylinder. The car is 10 years old, and things wear
>> out.
>
> I've never heard of this, unless you've broken off the key in the
> switch, and my dad was an auto mechanic for 30+ years...
My wife's father (whom we called) has worked on cars for 50-ish years; he
said the replacement cost cost between $100 and $800 - he's done a few
himself over the years - but not enough to know off the top of his head
how much it might cost to replace.
Doing a search online, it seems that there is a particular issue with
some Saturn models where this can happen. Seems not uncommon in the Ion,
for example.
> In the "is it turned on, is it plugged in" category, do you have a
> locking steering wheel? If so, try turning the wheel a bit. Is the car
> securely in parking gear? Almost always when I get stuck, it's one of
> those two things.
Those are all things we tried - the steering wheel locks, but only when
the key is in the "lock" position (when it can normally be removed). The
wheel turns freely (but with difficulty because the vehicle is stationary
and the power steering isn't engaged). Tried shifting in and out of park
several times, pushing hard (I've run into that one as well). No dice.
We also tried bouncing the steering column with the tilt lever, and that
didn't do it either. The cylinder is just locked solid, as if the key
was the wrong key for the car.
Except that it is the right key for the car. John (my FIL) said that as
old as our car is (10 years now), a little wear on the key or the lock
mechanism could cause this, but he seemed to think it was more likely
that one of the pins in the lock had either worn down.
The locksmith I talked to on the phone said that there's a clip and he's
seen that clip break, causing the same issue; he also said that he was
not equipped to deal with that particular problem.
Jim
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