feloniousmonk Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Parked the truck Friday night, jumped in this AM to go to work and the key won't turn. Couldn't press the button either. Thought maybe it's the steering lock so I turned the wheel back and forth while working the key. The key still didn't work and I ended up engaging steering lock. Going to try again tonight once the sun sets and everything cools down. Any ideas or suggestions before I resort to having it towed to the repair shop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandShark Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Sounds like the truck is upset because it just sat there all weekend. :tonguefinger: Seriously though, I'm not sure of anything that would cause you to be unable to turn the key aside from the steering lock mechanism malfunctioning. Has it ever been difficult to turn before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 When I bought the truck back in October I received two keys. One original the other a copy. The original key is worn enough where you have to play with it a bit to get it to work. The copy has been fine. I think the button is somehow jammed. The button has to be pressed in order to turn the key, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandShark Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 No sir, button only needs to be pushed in to remove keys from ignition. Looking around I found this: Step 1: Make sure the transmission is in park (for cars with automatic transmissions). Step 2: Set the parking brake to prevent the car from rolling farther against the curb. Step 3: Pull hard on the steering wheel while turning it in both directions. If this doesn't free the wheel, move on to step 4. Step 4: Release the parking brake and put the transmission in neutral. Let up on the foot pedal just enough to rock the car slightly. Step 5: Turn the steering wheel again. The key should turn now This was off some howTO site. Not sure if it will help but worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 I have a manual 2wd. Thanks for your help. I'll try spraying some WD40 in there and yank on the wheel some more. Been sunny and warm here. Something probably got expanded enough to get stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandShark Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 No worries bud. Let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boothill2008 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 (edited) I agree, the biggest 2 things that happen are either that it is not fully in park, or that the key has worn and can no longer effectively work the locking mechanism. I had a similar occurance and I resorted to having another key made from the key code. Once that key was made to the original factory code, the lock worked like a champ. Take care, Boot Edited March 10, 2008 by boothill2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 I agree, the biggest 2 things that happen are either that it is not fully in park, or that the key has worn and can no longer effectively work the locking mechanism. I have a manual 5 speed. There is no "park". Went home for lunch, sprayed a bunch of WD40, tugged at the wheel and it still won't budge. I'll try again tonight since it was at least 90 degrees inside the truck. Can't even roll the window down to cool down the interior. The lock mechanism is definitely stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandShark Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 May have to change out the lock barrel. Not sure how involved it is, I've never done one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveMyPatty Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 My ignition has a hard time turning sometimes. Just work the wheel back and forth a bunch of times, take the key out and put it back in, turn it forwards and back, pull it out a tiny bit and try it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 My ignition has a hard time turning sometimes. Just work the wheel back and forth a bunch of times, take the key out and put it back in, turn it forwards and back, pull it out a tiny bit and try it again. The factory original key I have fits that description perfectly. The copy has always worked. Unfortunate for me, I think the problem may be the ignition lock itself. Sun is just setting now, going to give it another try in an hour. If it still refuses to cooperate, it will be towed to the repair shop in the morning. Ugh. No feeling good about this at all since I just spent a bunch of $ to take care of some unexpected health issues. Thank you all for your help and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 Just tried it again. No luck. I guess it's taking a trip to the shop tomorrow. D'oh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kburgess Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I had this same thing happen this weekend. I fiddled around with it, then finally turned the wheel a bit, and suddenly the key turned freely. I know it's already been said, but it worked for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I had this same thing happen this weekend. I fiddled around with it, then finally turned the wheel a bit, and suddenly the key turned freely. I know it's already been said, but it worked for me! I wish it had been that easy. I yanked on the steering wheel pretty hard and it produced no results. My mechanic said that from what he could see the previous owner had done some work in that area and didn't button things back up tight. The play cause some parts to be misaligned and break. This is the jest of what he said. I'm not quoting word for word. I was on my cellphone and reception was pretty poor. I'll have more details later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Try pulling the key out and flipping it over.....try turning the key then slidding it out a mm or so, then try turning again and so on. With my 88 you have to put the key all the way in then pull it back out slightly to make it work in the tail gate lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (edited) With my 88 you have to put the key all the way in then pull it back out slightly to make it work in the tail gate lock. My 94 Is exactly like that, but in the steering column, makes me paranoid.... Edited March 13, 2008 by Crow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathmaker1 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Parked the truck Friday night, jumped in this AM to go to work and the key won't turn. Couldn't press the button either. Thought maybe it's the steering lock so I turned the wheel back and forth while working the key. The key still didn't work and I ended up engaging steering lock. Going to try again tonight once the sun sets and everything cools down. Any ideas or suggestions before I resort to having it towed to the repair shop? this happened to me when my battery was disconnected. the key wouldnt turn untill i reconnected the battery. Check to make sure your battery isnt dead. i was having alternator charging issues and was disconnecting the battery a lot. the key wouldnt turn untill i reconnected the battery. i have a 92 automatic with an alarm so that may have something to do with it. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feloniousmonk Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 this happened to me when my battery was disconnected. the key wouldnt turn untill i reconnected the battery. Check to make sure your battery isnt dead. i was having alternator charging issues and was disconnecting the battery a lot. the key wouldnt turn untill i reconnected the battery. i have a 92 automatic with an alarm so that may have something to do with it. Rich Thanks for the heads up. I did have a battery die a while back and according to the date sticker the battery was only 2 years old. I replaced the battery a couple months ago and have been keeping an eye on it. What I don't understand is why the key would not turn if the battery is dead. Waiting to hear from the mechanic today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathmaker1 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Thanks for the heads up. I did have a battery die a while back and according to the date sticker the battery was only 2 years old. I replaced the battery a couple months ago and have been keeping an eye on it. What I don't understand is why the key would not turn if the battery is dead. Waiting to hear from the mechanic today. i do not know either but i found this out b/c i have an alarm. i was starting the truck a lot and everytime i reconect the battery my alarm will go off. i had the key in the ignition with the battery disconnected and i wanted to get the key out so i can turn off the alarm when i reconnected the battery but no luck. when i reconnected the battery alarm starts screamin so i go in the truck, shut it off and viola the key came out. very strange indeed but it did do it to me a couple times. id be curious to see what was wrong with your ignition so let us know when you get it back Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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