Help with 96 Grand Am

[Riley10]

Hello all. I need some help. We just bought our 1996 Grand Am SE V6 last week. My husband couldn't get the key out of the ignition today. It was stuck completely. He finally got it out, but now the ignition won't go all the way back to the lock position and you can start the car without a key. The interior warning lights stay on. This all happened after he used a copy of our key that we had made. Any idea of what could be wrong? Thanks

[granatl]

Almost word for word, your story applies to me too. Underneath the plastic of the steerin column is about a 1" square piece of plastic that pops out. After you pop it out, there a button that you press and hold while turning the key to off (button pushes toward steering wheel). I'm not sure what causes it, yet; it might be that mechanism going bad (it's electrically controlled).

[fluffybunny]

in that mechanism there is a magnet that pulls the button in and the electrical signal from the ignition magnetizes one end so it unlocks the key... its a piece, just pull it off serves no good purpose as the ignition cylinder locks with no key in it........its asecondary lock that is cheap and makes you want to buy a new part.........pull it.... youll be ok.........

[kevinjd69]

there is a switch built into the shifter that operates the magnetic switch on the column..I've had to replace the whole shifter for the customer..