ignition

As I was getting out of my car today, I was unable to pull my key out of my ignition on an 89 firebird. when I push the key backwards to the final position so I can take my key out, I cannot reach that point. When I twist the key, I get a lot of resistance. Finally, I got my key out, but when I put it back in to start my car a few seconds later, I was unable to twist the key forward to start it up. Hopefully someone can help me or give me some advice about how to fix the problem, unless I just need a new ignition. Hopefully not. Anyones suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Is your steering wheel locked in position?, Have tried turn the wheel a little while turning it. Is you tranny if its auto fully engange in Park?. Have you tried pushing the gear lever forward while trying to turn it.

I had a similar problem on an 87 firebird once. The key wouldn't go back to the off position without putting it in a lot of strain and when I would try to start the car, the key wouldn't move to the run position. I sprayed some graphite powder in the switch and got it working temporarily but I eventually had to change the switch out.

hey, thanks a lot for your input. I finally got it really stuck after running to Napa auto parts, and I was like "god, dont let this happen now, i gotta get to work" i messed around with it for a few more seconds, and got the igniton working perfectly fine now. I tried moving the steering wheel around and everything. The thing is, i could shift into other gears with the key turned back as far as possible, so that wasnt cool. But yeah, i might have to replace my ignition sometime soon. Thanks anyway though.

Glad you got it working for the time being. You still might want to get it checked out when you get a chance, though. If I remember correctly, I had mine replaced for under $35.00 so it wasn't too horrible.

I don't know if the switch is similar to the older ones, but I just paid somebody to do it on a 79 Trans Am. I've done it before, but it's a pain in the ass. When you pull the steering wheel, you have to make sure to look at where the bearings are so you get it back in correctly. The hardest part of the job is compressing it back on so you can get the C-clip into the groove on the shaft. That's what holds the lock plate down which keeps the spring compressed. It's very difficult without a special tool. The people that do it for me have machined their own tool, and she can put the steering wheel back on in less than a minute.