We have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix that we’ve been very happy with. We bought it new, have kept it up reasonably well, and have had very little trouble with it. Lately, however, I’ve been having trouble removing the key from the ignition switch. I drive somewhere, stop, shift into Park and attempt to turn the ignition switch off and pull out the key, but the key won’t turn far enough. The ignition switch will turn far enough to turn off the engine, but not as far as the steering column lock position. I sometimes have to spend a minute or two jiggling the key, turning the steering wheel, etc. to find the right spot at which the ignition switch will rotate the last little bit, the steering column will lock, and I can pull the key out. I thought the problem might be my time-worn key, so I had a new key cut that’s an exact match for the pin height the day the car was new. That helped some, but I’m still having the problem. What do I do next? Replace the lock cylinder? Have it rekeyed? Replace the whole ignition switch? Something else?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Replace the lock cylinder. that should solve your problem. eventually the tumblers inside the switch will wear down and not make proper contact with even a brand new key.
Does the key have a resistor on it or a transponder inside? if so you will have to get it replaced through the dealership.
there is a very easy free fix for this. Im not positive what causes it. but under the bottom right of your steering column you will see a little plastic circle that you can pop out with a screw driver. once you do that u can push a pencil up the hole and there is a button u can push to overide the locking mechanism. i have a 00 gtp tha was doing the same thing as far as i could find out it was some kind of anti theft device that caused this on grand prix’s quite often. all i did and have heard of other people doing to get around this is to take off the bottom peice of the stearing column and use a twistie tie to hold the button down. thats what i did and ive never had it lock on me again or had any isssues with it since and that was almost 3 years ago.