Hello all,

My trouble started when the key began getting stuck at random times, and would not allow itself to be removed from the ignition, slowly draining the battery. There were never any issues with starting it, or moving it to any of the accessories. It was purely removing the key from the ignition.

To add to our problems, I could not get our mechanic to repeat the issue my wife and I were experiencing, so he guessed it was the tumblers. We decided that was a good route and after the service and the key worked, for 1 month.

So we took our car back, and again -- he held the car for 3 days and was not able to repeat the stuck key issue my wife and I were having.

We were getting very frustrated at this point, The key was becoming stuck so often, the battery had to be changed from the constant draining and jumping.

We took it to another mechanic who had saw the issue, and we replaced the ignition cylinder, but it took a little extra time because the teeth didn't line up the first time. So with that fixed, the key is again extremely tight now. Hopefully the car won't revert back in a month to the way it was, as it did when we replaced the tumblers.

But now there is a new issue! -- The key will stick in the starting position. When we turn the key all the way forward it starts up just fine, but it also keeps the starter spinning/going.

Is this issue because the cylinder is new? Not lubed? Could there be something broke or missing?

Any advice or suggestions are welcome!

 

Well, its two weeks later and the original issue has came back. The key will get stuck in the ignition and short of breaking it off, it refuses to come out for long periods of time.


Meanwhile, the key will also stick in the forward starting position, and even when the engine has started, sometimes the key will keep the starter until I intervene.


Can anyone make heads or tails of this situation? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

Have you tried replacing the ignition cylinder? I would suspect that is the problem. Also, do not keep a large number of keys on your key ring. The added weight of extra keys, key fobs, key chains, etc will cause undue stress and premature wear on the key cylinder. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, I'm going to put the original factory installed ignition cylinder back in later today and get rid of this junk one I bought earlier to try and fix the issue....

My next step is to replace the ignition switch tonight -- unless someone else can recommend something better...

wish me luck!

 

Sounds like the rod inside the steering colum might be hanging up. I'll assume you have a tilt wheel, does it do this with the wheel in the center position (up and down)?

 

Thanks for the response! Yes, I've tried tilting the wheel up and down and all center positions to remove the key, and it still gets locked.

Today I did the work I mentioned above. The column was torn down, and the new ignition cylinder was replaced by the original ignition cylinder. I am going to return the junk one I purchased and get my money back.

The ignition switch change out went surprisingly well.. I am amazed how easy it went. Unfortunately THIS DID NOT FIX THE ISSUE! The key still gets stuck!!



So, total work done.
1st try - Tumbler changed out
2nd try - same mechanic thinks its in my head
3rd try = new mechanic changes out ignition cylinder
4th try = mechanic fixes the ignition cylinder to line up teeth correctly
5th try = new ignition cylinder taken out, original one put back in. ignition switch replaced


--
I have to say.. all that work, and money, and frustration producing no results is irritating.


My mechanic and I have no clue what is causing it...
neutral safety switch?
transmission not in park?
it is a gm product?
operator error?
ignition safety switch?
somewhere something is loose?



Its happening so frequently and we decided to disconnect the ignition safety switch, so now the key comes out every time, and I can sleep at night.

I am open to suggestions and will keep you all updated to any possible fixes... Thanks!

 

hmm provide us with more information about the truck you can get better results that way

 

2004 blazer LS with 806XX miles. auto. RWD, no customizations

 

Stupid question, but is the key bent or twisted? I was using mine as a make shift screwdriver at one point and started to have the exact same issue. Once I straighted the key, all was well.

 

We use 2 different keys regularly, one original and one we got later from a dealer. When the tumbler change out did not work, we switched out the ignition cylinder with a new pair of keys and lock sequence and those keys got stuck too.

Its been 3 days since disconnecting and removing the ignition safety switch, and the key has not got stuck!