Ignition stuck in "ON" position

**ct9a** · 04-29-2009, 04:20 PM

Well, I went to the store and when I got there, I couldn't turn the truck off. Obviously I just went home, but I had to pull a fuse to turn the motor off and it seems that I'm going to have to disconnect the battery too if I don't get this figured out.

When I left for the store, I remember that it was hard to shift out of Park, but it went without forcing it. Maybe I broke something? I can't even see how to get to the steering column, do I have to pull the steering wheel?

**95CTburb19** · 04-29-2009, 05:31 PM

That's weird. It happened to my jeep once. The ignition was shot and I was using a screwdriver to start it. Well, that only worked for so long. The last little piece that the screwdriver was catching stripped off and It got stuck running with the starter engaged. Even after I pulled the batter cables it was still running.

**ct9a** · 04-29-2009, 05:34 PM

Yeah, disconnecting the battery when it's running shouldn't make a difference. At that point the truck should be running off of alternator power. I'm just worrying how much this is going to cost to fix.

I'm guessing that the ign. cylinder is bad, but I just want to make sure that I didn't possibly break something else. I guess I'll have to pull out the manual to see if it says how to switch it out.

**Crawdaddy** · 04-29-2009, 05:35 PM

This happened in my Saturn. Turns out some cap on the back of the ignition switch fell off. That somehow kept it from going into the lock position and wouldn't let the key go. Until I could get it in the shop, I manually locked the doors, pulled the fuel injector fuse to turn the car off, and pulled the battery cable when I wasn't driving the car. Worked OK, albeit "ghetto".

EDIT: Switching the ignition cylinder out shouldn't be too hard unless your steering wheel has an airbag. After I figured out how to do it the first time, I'm able to strip my steering column down in probably 30 mins which is going past the point where you take the ignition cylinder out.

**ct9a** · 04-29-2009, 05:42 PM

Do you have to pull the steering wheel to get to it?

**ct9a** · 04-29-2009, 09:48 PM

To answer my own question, yes the steering wheel needs to come off. If doesn't look like a very hard job, I'll probably try this out tomorrow.

**GaryL** · 04-30-2009, 10:12 AM

You will need a steering wheel puller and a lock plate tool. You should be able to get those at you local parts store and maybe even on a "loan-a-tool" program.