Thread: key won't turn in ignition

howdy,

after a long weekend out in the backcountry, my friends and i arrived back to the trailhead around 2:15pm and began to change out of our boots and such. it'd been a long, over-10 mile slog out from a forest service cabin. anyhow, i was pumped that i had not lost the car key. i thought i'd turn on the ol' 4runner to get the heater cranking, and defrost the windows.

the key wouldn't turn. i jiggled the steering wheel, the key wouldn't turn. i took the key out and tried it upside down. no, the key still wouldn't turn. others tried it, but they key wouldn't turn. luckily, there was no problem with the other vehicle and we were able to get a ride back to civilization. was my key bent? worn down? the car is a 1996 4runner, with over 200k miles. we drove all the way back to town so that i could get the spare key, and drove all the way back out to the trailhead.

the spare key wouldn't turn either. it was stuck in the iginition for a while, as a matter of fact. no amount of swearing or jostling the stuff around could help out the situation. we cleared out the car, and left it unlocked with the original key sitting on the driver's seat. so now, my car is stuck in a very remote location... about 20 minutes north of polebridge, mt. during the summer, it's about a 45 minute drive on a washboard/rutted out road to get to polebridge. this time of the year, it's a snow/ice mess. i'm cursing myself for not having AAA coverage, and waiting to see if my auto policy might cover the towing. somehow, i'm figuring this situation will turn out poorly for me. wtf?

you're kidding right?

its called a steering wheel lock
try to turn the wheel a little bit, maybe hard to one side or the other, and you should be free to turn the key

also try putting the car in neutral and moving it a little, then putting it back into park (assuming it has an auto transmission) Similar stuff used to happen with my jeep.

Thats pretty weird. Something like this happened to me a while back. New hyundai sonata with about 15k miles on it. Put the key in, turned, wouldn't turn so I jiggled the wheel because that usually works. Got it to budge a little. I ended up coming back the next day with a bottle of keyboard duster and sprayed that shit all in the ignition. It took some jostlin of the wheel and key but i eventually got it to start, and i havent had the problem since

Yell at it.

(Pechelman - I think they tried that.)

But seriously - go back and tap the lock (w/o key) with a hammer, then try it again.

powdered graphite.

Why the fuck did you leave the key in the car?

Ive had to turn my steering wheel really hard a few times in the 4runner,if you can feel it on the lock, its that. Put the brakes on and move the shifter to neutral (use the shift lock button the little plastic cap by the shifter)

WD-40. It worked for me.

sometimes if you use the same key for 10 years the key can get SO worn from use it won't work the lock and if you cut a new one you are just making a copy of a worn key but if the spare doesnt work eitehr (and was not made from a worn key) maybe the lock is fucked ?

the lock smith can also make spares from a code

It's a mid 90's Toyota. Have you tried a pair of scissors?

That's how my Surrey friends started them.

yeah, so the insurance agent left me a message saying that i have $100 credit towards a tow. awesome, except that the place he's recommending for towing is going to charge $6/mile because of the road conditions/isolated spot/etc. that'd be well over $300.

i like the idea of blowing out the ignition with keyboard duster, tapping it gently, powdered graphite, etc. maybe i'll spray in some wd40 as well. it's a manual transmission, so i don't know about moving from park/netural. really, i'd like to try whatever else might help before having to pay that much money just for a tow, only to be hosed on the price of whatever repair is needed. thanks for the ideas. and yes, i know about the steering wheel lock. the wheel wasn't originally locked, but is now locked up after so much jostling/etc trying to get the key to turn.

is there a way to start the car/bypass the steering lock without turning a key in the ignition? can i somehow magically "hotwire" the car? is that what the scissors would be used for?

give all that a shot, but really, i just dont think you tried hard enough on the wheel lock

try rolling the car a bit as well while trying to turn the wheel to help remove any preload that might be on your steering colum from any tire squirm

jiggling the wheel = fail
turn the wheel hard in the direction it needs to go while gently turning or jiggling the key


edit
id stay away from wd40
it might gum up the barrels

also, if you need a tow, sign up for AAA
it will pay for itself the first time

Found this:

If the key is stuck in your ignition, try turning your steering wheel hard in both directions while twisting your key gently in both directions. The steering wheel lock may be putting back pressure on your ignition switch causing it to bind and this in-turn stops you from being able to turn your key.

If you can slide your key in and out of your ignition, then your key may be worn and the cylinder cannot be twisted by the humps on the key...check to see if your key shows signs of wear...ie. shinny sides and deep marks. If this is the case you will have to have keys made for your car. It may be easy to do if you have T-Tops, you can take a top off and bring it to a lock smith. They can make a key to fit your ignition in about an hour and it should cost about $25-$35. I had to have that doen for my 1991 MR2. Hope this helps!

if the key works well in the door's (note that the passenegr doorlock is usually not as worn as the driver door) ...the key should work well in the steering column

no way short of busting the lock to bypass the steering wheeel lock ...thats why they call it a steering lock

Don't bother with the tow.. my '98 4Runner does this sometimes (well, every car does, but the 4Runners seem to do it really badly). Sometimes you just need to take a break, take a breath, then go at it slightly more relaxed.

Originally Posted by unitofstuff

Don't bother with the tow.. my '98 4Runner does this sometimes (well, every car does, but the 4Runners seem to do it really badly). Sometimes you just need to take a break, take a breath, then go at it slightly more relaxed.

actualy its been awhile but I am flashing back to my 1990 4 runer doing something funny like this

it didnt do it a bunch maybe 3 times in 4 years/275,000 km

www.yotatech.com

Do some searching.

I don't know how well this will work with your's, since its 10 years newer than mine and I don't know exactly what the ingition is like, but when my truck was broken into, the scissors they used to try jam the ignition snapped and were stuck in the lock. I got them out, but the ignition cylinder was fucked. we took the whole thing off the steering column, and on the other side of where the lock cylinder goes was a little slot. put a screwdriver in that and you no longer need a key. bring up a hacksaw with you to put grooves in the pins that hold the lock cylinder on, so that they become screws instead of pins that cannot be undone. then just take off the lock cylinder and you should see the part that it would turn when you turn hte key. this will allow you to start your truck and get you home. then, if you still can't fgure out the lock thing, find someone wrecking a mid 90's toyota and get the lock cylinder.

e-mail me if this dosn't make since, or google.

think it could be frozen? some condensation got in there and froze things up? i've busted door and thule locks open that froze by heating up a key with a blowtorch. dont know if that could happen to an ignition though.


oh and uh, well, dont touch the hot key with a bare hand.

First of all, don't put anything in there besides graphite. WD40 in an electrical switch is probably the dumbest thing I've heard all day (it's very flammable, which you probably already know. Among other reasons). At any rate graphite won't do any good in this situation.

This jiggle, jiggle, twist, pull bit might work on Contra, but it's not going to work on your car. Not for long anyways. The split wafer in the lock cylinder is worn or bent (or both,) a common issue for Toyota locks. You need to order a new cylinder from the dealer, take it to a locksmith to get keyed to your current keys (and have him just remove the split wafers entirely while he's in there so this doesn't happen again in another 50K,) and then bribe a mechanic-type friend with some beer to put it in for you. It's about a 45 minute job for someone who has an idea what they're doing.

Provided the current cylinder isn't destroyed, you could take it out and just have your locksmith remove the wafers. Although I'm from the school of thought that new (dealer) parts are always better than rehabbing old broken stuff if you can afford it.

Originally Posted by BSS

First of all, don't put anything in there besides graphite. WD40 in an electrical switch is probably the dumbest thing I've heard all day (it's very flammable, which you probably already know. Among other reasons).

But the truck will smell like banana laffy taffy.

wd is Water Displacing the 40th recipe buddy engineer tried

http://www.wd40.com/faqs/#q7

you can spray that shit on shorted out ignition and the car will start ,I used to work in a gas station on a highwy where water would collect,folks would hit a puddle at 50mph, and coast into the station with a dead engine ,spray the wiring & ignition (back when engines had points) and they were on their way

[QUOTE=unitofstuff;2261742...Sometimes you just need to take a break, take a breath, then go at it slightly more relaxed.[/QUOTE]

Second this advice. Keys and ignition locks wear out and can then be very fussy.

My brother tried to start my Honda once and told me the key would not work. He showed me that he tried everything, giggling the key, turning the wheel, trying to shift the tranny etc. I took the key from him and turned the ignition my first attempt. Also had this happen with other people trying to start my car.

yeah, no luck on the mission to retry the key. went all the way back out to the car, only to be again shut down by fate. i even had the graphite powder, jacked up the front end, etc. no love doctor jones. time to start making phone calls and working out a solution. maybe a moose or wolf or something will steal the freakin car.

Why don't you just hotwire it? You are going to have to replace the lockcore anyways.