Saturn Ion Will Not Stop

My Daughter has an '06 Saturn Ion. 6 months ago the ignition switch was replaced because she could not turn the car off. today she called and said that it would not turn off again. The key will not turn past the on position. Her key chain only has a couple of keys on it. she knows about how heavy key chains are hard on ignition switches.



Has anyone else had this problem with Saturns?

Is she making sure to put the transmission back into Park?
Probably a connection between the shifter and the ignition switch is causing the issue.

BC.

Bladecutter: Thanks, but we tried that already by pushing & pulling the shifter in both Park & Neutral while trying to turn the key…no luck!

This is a known problem with the Saturn ignitions. My sister-in-law had the same one, and had to replace it a couple times. The metal used is sub-par, and just falls apart. It’s very unfortunate, and there’s little you can do about it but replace it. There can be one of two problems: one is the lock cylinder itself, the other is that the cylinder cuts up the keys, and shavings stay in the lock and sieze it up.

For a while, a locksmith can remove a few of the tumblers, which means almost any key that will fit can start it, but it would turn, anyway. It’s not the best solution. I’m actually surprised no one responded to this before now.

You can’t tell, though…the next replacement might be the one that never falls apart nor tears up your keys.

You’re not alone in this:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/saturn_ignition_lock.html

Since it’s still running, you could drive it to the dealer. :slight_smile:

Seriously, best of luck,
Chase