securty light on

trying to understand why my security light is on came on this morning while taking son to school

The car has a Passlock Security system.

In the Intrigue's case, its built into the ignition, and is supposed to be smart enough to detect whether you're using the key to turn the ignition or something else like a screwdriver. Its supposed to prevent the car from even starting at all.

In my experience, the Security light coming on while driving will eventually be followed by the car not starting at all with your key...usually at a very inopportune time.

I believe the fix is to replace the ignition switch, or possibly the key cylinder, I honestly cant recall...they are actually 2 separate pieces. So you can replace the ignition switch without replacing the key cylinder, and still use your existing key...

You should be able to search the forum and find a lot of info, its a fairly common problem.

Personally when mine started acting up I just disabled the Passlock system...didnt cost a dime, took only a few minutes of my time, and havent had a single problem with it in at least 2 years or so....only downside is that my Security light stays on when driving, but thats a small price to pay for having a car that will let you start it.

Yours hasnt gotten to the point where it wont let you start it, but Id say it will one day.