2000 Malibu ignition key won't turn! Help!

[mdaly_2]

I know somethings about cars, but this one has got me baffled. I came home, parked my car quick, & when I went back out five minutes later, the key wouldn't turn. I can hear the slides going down & the key goes all the way in. The steering wheel has not locked & you can turn it back & forth freely. The car is in park completely. I even tried to turn the wheels all the way to see if I could turn the ignition key then, & nothing. Can anyone help?

[acemech129]

hi, your ignition cylinder has 9 tumblers in it, if one gets stuck, guess what, cylinder wont turn. take a flashlight and look into cylinder to see if you can see the stuck down tumbler, hopefully its one of the ones closest to the front, take a sharp pointed tool and try to pick the tumbler back up to unstick it, hopefully this will work, unfortunatly you will need to replace the ign cyl as this problem is caused by wear. hope this helps

[Mikado]

I just went through this ordeal with my '97 Malibu. It locked up on me one night at a grocery store. After two hours of trying to break the lock, a locksmith drilled a big hole in it. Then I was able to start it with a screwdriver.

There is a slotted pin which won't disengage along the left side once the tumblers go bad. To replace the entire unit, you will have to pull the trim off that covers the heater, radio, etc., then remove the radio in order to access the switch to the left. You need a piece of stiff wire (straightened out paper clip) to insert into a hole near the right rear of the lock housing. Look at the new lock you are about to install to get a sense of where things are. There is a spring-loaded locking pin inside the hole. Push the pin in and the lock will slide out of it's casing. You need to pull a little so it helps to have the key in (or screwdriver in my case). Slide the new one in until you hear it click. There are no wires or anything attached to the lock itself. Replace the radio and trim and that's it!

It is really simple. The locksmith helped me out by ordering a lock for me at his cost (about $75) and instructing me how to do it. If I can do it, anybody can. Good luck!

[viacin]

I had this problem when I first purchased my malibu, it was just a old worn out key. they made me a new one and it fixed everything.

[btuk00]

Originally Posted by Mikado

I just went through this ordeal with my '97 Malibu. It locked up on me one night at a grocery store. After two hours of trying to break the lock, a locksmith drilled a big hole in it. Then I was able to start it with a screwdriver.

There is a slotted pin which won't disengage along the left side once the tumblers go bad. To replace the entire unit, you will have to pull the trim off that covers the heater, radio, etc., then remove the radio in order to access the switch to the left. You need a piece of stiff wire (straightened out paper clip) to insert into a hole near the right rear of the lock housing. Look at the new lock you are about to install to get a sense of where things are. There is a spring-loaded locking pin inside the hole. Push the pin in and the lock will slide out of it's casing. You need to pull a little so it helps to have the key in (or screwdriver in my case). Slide the new one in until you hear it click. There are no wires or anything attached to the lock itself. Replace the radio and trim and that's it!

It is really simple. The locksmith helped me out by ordering a lock for me at his cost (about $75) and instructing me how to do it. If I can do it, anybody can. Good luck!

Do you have any suggestions on how to get the cylinder out if it doesnt move. when we push in the pin..the thing wont budge....any help would be great

[blayzerg]

I just had the same issue with my 97 Malibu and I figured I'd Google for some help and stumbled on this forum.

My process in fixing it was a little simpler, i figured that since one of the tumblers was locked/jammed/stuck all it needed was a good thrashing so I took a rubber mallet (so as to not dmg my car) and just pounded away on the ignition. To my astonishment it worked!!!!

So take some anger out on the situation and just beat it to hell, hopefully you'll get the same result.