Ignition Won’t Turn? Here Is What Is Usually Wrong
The key goes in but will not turn. Or it turns halfway and stops. Or it will not come out again.
Before you force it — and forcing it is how a cheap repair becomes an expensive one — it is worth knowing which of four things you are dealing with.
Why will my key not turn in the ignition?
The most common cause costs nothing to fix: the steering lock has engaged against the weight of the front wheels and is binding the cylinder.
After that it is a worn key, a worn cylinder, or a gear selector that is not quite in Park.
An ignition cylinder repair commonly runs around $150 to $350 depending on the vehicle and whether the cylinder can be rebuilt or has to be replaced. A worn key cut fresh from the lock is far less.
Try this first, it is free
Put your hand on the steering wheel and rock it gently left and right while turning the key with light pressure. If the steering lock was loaded — and it usually is when the car is parked on a slope or the wheels are turned — the key will free up immediately.
If the car is an automatic, shift firmly into Park and try again. Many cars will not release the ignition unless the selector is fully home. Nudging it out of Park and back in is enough.
Do not force the key. A key snapped inside a cylinder turns a fifteen minute job into an extraction and a new key.
Worn key or worn cylinder?
These feel similar and the fix is very different, so it is worth telling them apart before anyone starts.
If your spare key turns the ignition normally and your everyday key does not, the key is worn. Years in a pocket round off the cuts until they no longer lift the wafers to the right height. A new key cut from the lock rather than copied from the worn one solves it.
If both keys struggle, the cylinder is worn. The wafers inside have worn along with the keys, and the fix is a rebuild or a replacement cylinder.
If the key has begun sticking and needing a wiggle for weeks, that is a cylinder on its way out. Getting it done before it fails completely is cheaper than a roadside call after it does.
What not to do
- Do not force the key or use pliers for leverage. Broken keys are extracted, not turned
- Do not spray oil or penetrating fluid into the cylinder. It attracts grit and shortens the life of what is left
- Do not hammer the key in. Wafers bend, and a bent wafer means a replacement cylinder rather than a rebuild
- Do not keep cutting copies from a worn key. Each copy inherits the wear and compounds it
When it is not the ignition at all
If the key turns freely but nothing happens, the cylinder is doing its job and the problem is elsewhere: the battery, the starter, the neutral safety switch, or the immobiliser refusing the key.
The immobiliser case is worth recognising. If the dash security light stays on or flashes when you turn the key, the car is reading the key and rejecting it. That is a key or transponder problem, not a mechanical one, and it needs programming rather than a new cylinder.
Need this done? See our Ignition repair page, or call (425) 675-6617 and tell us what you have.
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CALL NOWFrequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about car key replacement, lockouts, key fob programming, and mobile locksmith service across Puget Sound
Intermittent turning is the classic sign of a cylinder starting to wear. It usually gets worse over weeks and then fails entirely, often at the least convenient moment.
Many can be rebuilt with new wafers and springs, which keeps your original key working. Whether that is possible depends on the vehicle and how far the wear has gone. We check on site before deciding.
Do not try to pull the remaining piece out with pliers — that usually pushes it deeper. The broken part can be extracted with the right tool and a replacement key cut from the lock itself.
Commonly $150 to $350 depending on the vehicle and whether the cylinder is rebuilt or replaced. A worn key cut fresh from the lock costs considerably less, which is why it is worth diagnosing first.
Usually not. Ignition work is done where the car is parked, which is the point of a mobile service. A tow is only needed if the fault turns out to be somewhere else in the vehicle.
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