I just got a 1996 Oldsmobile Achieva, whenever I go to turn the car off the key is stuck in the second position, after about a minute the key will turn into the first position and come out. But sometimes it doesn’t, does anyone know what the problem could be, I’ve tried everything I can thing of, thank you everyone for your help.
You may need a new ignition key cylinder.
If my memory isn’t playing tricks, this happened on my Honda when the battery voltage was down from the car not being driven for a couple of weeks. Recharging the battery fixed it.
Just fixed one of these last week. It was actually the electric portion of the ignition switch. It would not allow the shift lock solenoid to disengage.
~Michael
you have a passlock security problem which is common on these cars. you can disable it by following these steps.
1- Take the cover off the steering column. if it has tilt steering unscrew the tilt handle in the column and remove it first.
2- on the passenger side of the steering column you will see two small (20 gauge) wires, yellow, white and black going from the ignition to the top of the column. start the car and while running cut the yellow wire then turn the car off. Re-start the car. problem solved! the security light will always be on but it?s a lot cheaper than spending 400 dollars for nothing. took me 30 minutes and cost me nothing to fix mine so go figure.