ignition lock!!!!!! HELP!!!!

[ghostryder]

my ignition cylinder turns without the key!! i hooked the battery up and i heard the chime as if the key was in the ignition. also when i put the key in to turn as if iam starting the car i dont get that spring back of the ignition cylinder. can anyone help me out?


little history i bought 2 birds a 90 and 92 the 92 was pretty rusted so i am redoing the 90. i pretty much gutted the 90 and put in new carpet. i swapped the 92 dash with the auto climate control into the 90 along with all the sensors and wiring harness also swapped the 92 tail lights into the 90.

please help i am ready to fire her up!!!

[Goldeneagle]

This is a common problem with our cars. Its in the ignition switch itself.

Do a search and find the fix for this problem.
The keeper is broke.

[ghostryder]

i did search put in ignition switch nothing that was related. what are the majic words for the search

[90sc35thann]

The ignition switch is located down on the steering column. I just put one in a 94 however it is different than your year. They are not difficult to replace at all and run about 20 bucks.

[Quik95SC]

It may not be the ignition switch. I went to work one day, car started just fine, tried to turn of the car and it would not turn off. Then I got the same situation you have, where you turn the key and it feels like there is no spring back to it.

There is a small plastic rod that goes from the key cylinder down to the igntion switch. This plastic rod can fall off of the pin and cause the ignition switch to feel like it went bad.

Unfortunately you will have to take off the steering column and work inside the steering column to find this 6 inch rod and reattach it to the ignition key cylinder. The grease gets old and dry and the rod falls off the pin pretty easily.

Easy test: drop the ignition switch, but leave the connection on. try and start the car by moving the small pin on the switch. if it starts normally and the spring works properly, it is more than likely the rod I mentioned above.

If the Ign switch doesn't have the spring to bring it back to the "neutral" position then yes the switch has gone bad.

Smitty

[ghostryder]

is it easier to replace the ignition lock and ignition switch instead of searching for the little rod?

[RalphP]

Originally Posted by ghostryder

is it easier to replace the ignition lock and ignition switch instead of searching for the little rod?

Well, since to interconnect the two you'll still have to hunt up that rod and reconnect it ...

RwP

[ghostryder]

is there a pic of how they interconnect? i will see if i can find it tomorrow if not i will replace them both

[RalphP]

What year is your SC?

The linkage is different from the 89-92 and the 93-95. Or 89-93 and 94-95, not sure when the airbags came in.

RwP

[ghostryder]

its a 1990

[Quik95SC]

Originally Posted by Quik95SC

It may not be the ignition switch. I went to work one day, car started just fine, tried to turn of the car and it would not turn off. Then I got the same situation you have, where you turn the key and it feels like there is no spring back to it.

There is a small plastic rod that goes from the key cylinder down to the igntion switch. This plastic rod can fall off of the pin and cause the ignition switch to feel like it went bad.

Unfortunately you will have to take off the steering column and work inside the steering column to find this 6 inch rod and reattach it to the ignition key cylinder. The grease gets old and dry and the rod falls off the pin pretty easily.

Easy test: drop the ignition switch, but leave the connection on. try and start the car by moving the small pin on the switch. if it starts normally and the spring works properly, it is more than likely the rod I mentioned above.

If the Ign switch doesn't have the spring to bring it back to the "neutral" position then yes the switch has gone bad.

Smitty

OK scratch everything I just said maybe, didn't realize models were that different. I was working on a 95.

But still doesn't a 90 have a tilt steering wheel even if it doesn't have an airbag or a different airbag. That small rod still has to be in there of some sort to get the key cylinder action down to the ignition switch unless the ignition switch is directly under the key cylinder, which I don't believe it is.

[RalphP]

The rod is one piece on the Gen1, since the ignition cylinder is in the LOWER portion of the column. No need for the rod to pivot, like on the later units.

As a result, we don't have that piece that breaks in the middle of the rod. Nor do we have to fish the two parts together.

OTOH, the pivot for the tilt wheel is just a plastic shell, not even sintered or cast metal.

We win a few, we lose a few on the Gen1.

RwP

[ghostryder]

does anyone have a pic so i can see what i am lookiing for?