I am restarting this which was originally posted by me in 6-22-2020 in 2nd Gen S-series /1995-- 2005/. It mysteriously stopped 'sticking when I replaced the old key with a newly made key. It has now reappeared. Here was the 'Key' post in the original post.

From my post in 6-22-2020--
The following questions were posted by GeorgeLG. :

When is the battery light flashing?:

Ignition off, key stuck
engine off, ignition on
Engine running

What is the system voltage under these three scenarios? Measure it at the cigarette lighter plug.


Today I measured at the 12V receptacle---aka cigarette lighter plug---- the following values:
1./ I was able to get the key out. So there is no 'key stuck' measurement.
2./ Engine off, Ignition on----11.8 v
3./ Key on, engine running---13.8 v
** The battery light was never flashing. It is a steady light.
George, any other questions I will try to answer today. I did put my HFT trickle charger on and after a quick 14 mile trip into town, I read an 'engine off, ign. key on display of 12.3 V...... Thanks, Jim

 

Jim

I don’t remember the details of the original post and I have no experience with sticking ignitions Keys but you need to be able to charge the battery to 12.6v, knock off the surface charge with the headlights for say 30 seconds and read that same 12.6v at ignition on engine off. If that’s not happening then we need to find out why. Your charging voltage looks good and therefore should not be turning on the battery light while running. 11.8v at key on is too low.

George

 

Found your original thread. You need to get the voltage behavior that I outlined in my previous post and you need to get that ignition cylinder replaced per the posters at the other thread that know way more about ign sw mechanics than I do.

not sure why we needed a new thread, makes recapping the history more work.


George

 

We are enjoying the first cool weather and it is time for fall. Just in time for the state fair and football. I guess my old Walmart battery is protesting this change in the weather. While I negotiate with Walmart on a new battery, I have decided to just go with a new ignition lock cylinder assembly. I found a good You Tube vid from South Main Auto on replacing the S10 Blazer ign. lock. See link below. He does recommend using an Made in America AC Delco assembly not a poorly made Chinese version. You can tell this is an old video from Jan. 2015. There is no Made in America Ign. lock that I can find.

 

That’s a good video to follow, South Main Auto is a great resource.


George

 

You may have two different problems, the key stuck in the ignition cylinder and the electrical portion of the assembly affecting ignition voltage. You definitely have the former and need to repair the lock cylinder but I would not tear into the electrical portion unless I verified a corrupted ignition voltage first, after you straighten out the battery situation. As you point out, you would be replacing an AC Delco part with a potentially inferior after market part. Here is the procedure on the lock cylinder:





George

 

Thanks for the GM installation of the ignition lock cylinder, Eric O. from South Main Auto you tube video's was one who pointed out that buying AC Delco no longer guarantees you will get Made in the USA parts. He was rebuilding a GM truck transfer case and spent the extra dollars and longer waiting period to get the GM/ AC Delco parts and was upset that he did pay a premium, but got all Chinese bearings and seals from GM.
Several years ago, I did myself replace the electrical portion of the switch. It was a complicated procedure and you have to get into some of the same connections to do this mechanical ign. lock cylinder replacement. I like to call it the lock tumbler. But I will use the 'GM speak' terms since they designed and built this vehicle. The ign electrical parts IIRC were from Adv Auto Parts and probably from overseas. Anyway I am going to hope that they are not the cause of the sticking key problem. I will post the results of the new Ign. lock cylinder replacement.

 

i have never done this repair but I believe that you will have easy access to the ignition switch wiring with the covers removed and that would make checking the stability of the ignition switch output relatively easy while your in there working. I would monitor the voltages after the switch through multiple run and start engagement and make sure they are uniform and correct. Good luck.

George