1998 2dr Highline

[Arakny]

My husband has been driving this car lately, and he told me today that the ignition has became hard to turn. I thought it was weird but he said nothing else was wrong and he would look at it when he had a chance.

Now this morning he got in to head out and when he turned the car on and started down the driveway the radio would not turn on and the windows would not roll up. So he pulled back in and turned it off, then back on and the radio turned on and the windows rolled up.

I'm not sure if these problems can be at all related, but I would really appreciate any input anyone has on to what these problems could be. We don't have much money, and my husband doesn't have much time so any thing we could do to possibly fix this ourselves would be REALLY helpful.

Thank you in advance!!

[das2123]

Could be some loose electrical wires not making good contact. Does the car start fine? Maybe the battery is slowly dying.

As far as the ignition switch, I have no idea. Could be gunk or dirt in there possibly causing it to stick.

[Arakny]

Okay, so this problem escalated very quickly. Now the key is completely STUCK in the ignition. The car wouldn't start, and my husband couldn't get the key out at all. The key would turn but not far enough to get it out.

So he push started it to get it home, and I have figured out how to get the ignition out. But now I'm not sure what to do with it.

I'm sure we probably need this whole tumbler section replaced, and possible the ignition switch. Does this sound plausible? Are these things something we can replace on our own?

[denisond3]

Certainly you can get the ignition switch out yourself, but it will take some tools and time. First I would try spraying a penetrating oil into the switch, past the key if you cant get it out, or into the key slot if you can remove it. Heating the thing with a blow dryer may help it turn far enough for the key to come out, & maybe wiggling the steering wheel. I have quite a few cars, none of them newer than 97 (the Neon is our newest). I find it useful to put a drop of oil onto the ignition key and put it into the ignition switch and leave it for ten minutes, about twice a year; for each car. If its for the first time, I would repeat it every ten minutes a few times. I also lube my door/trunk locks the same way.
In your case it might be the lock cylinder getting stiff, or it might be the electrical part of the switch. You can buy them separately.
If you go to www.rockauto.com, and put in your make, year, and model, and chose either sohc or dohc (I imagine the ign. switches are the same for either engine type), you can then click on the link for "electrical switch & relay", followed by clicking the link for 'ignition starter switch', and there will be a small image of the actual part - the electrical part. clicking on the image will magnify it. Then backing up couple of menu levels, if you click on the link for 'ignition', then on 'ignition lock cylinder' or on 'ignition switch actuator pin', you can again see what the parts look like. These are what you would need to find, by removing the clamshell around the steering column of the car.
I am at our winter place, my Neon is at out summer place (along with the dodge service manual I got from ebay, or I would have better info on how to get at the ign. switch. A chilton manual from an auto parts store (or ebay) might help.
Good Luck.