crypto

Today I had my car valeted while I was at a restaurant. We apparently stayed longer than the valet service and my key was returned to me by the hostess and walked to the truck. When I got in ... I could not start the car. The key would not turn at all. Fortunately, the Internet and these forums are a wonderful source of information. I came across multiple posts on this exact subject but none of them had authoritative responses or reasons for the issue.

Suggestions seen in the posts: Grease up the key, bend the key back, take a hammer and bang it into the ignition, and turn the steering wheel as much and as hard as you can and then try the key.

It turns out the last suggestion was the one that did the trick for me. The steering wheel was pretty locked but after getting it to slightly budge .. I could now start my truck. This seems to be the fix but I have no clue how my steering wheel and ignition got into this locked position. Does anyone have an explanation? My truck was just parked normally in the parking spot. The wheels were almost straight .. maybe like 6-7 degrees to the left. Ultimately pulling the wheel to the right is what caused it to budge.

Does anyone know why this ignition lock/stuck thing happens? Is it in response to something the car thinks is going on? Just a random problem? Doesn't seem to make sense to me.

DavidKR

the ignition locks if someone turns the steering wheel far enough while the key isn't on. to unlock it, all you have to do is turn the wheel while turning the key.

Big Emma

Don't know if this applies to you but several years ago, I had the same issue on a different vehicle. Key wouldn't turn and the steering wheel was not far off of being straight. Called the wife and she brought her key and that one wouldn't work either. Had to have the darn thing towed to a dealer. The dealer had to change out the ignition lock set to the tune of about two hundred and fifty bucks. I was told that the problem was that I had a bunch of other keys and different things on my key ring and that over time the extra weight had caused wear on the ignition key set tumblers. What a load of BS, but since my vehicle was out of warranty, I was stuck. That was the last Chrysler vehicle I ever owned.

F150_Dave

When you turn the wheel with the engine running it moves easily due to power assist. When you turn the engine off and then let go of the wheel it will return slightly. If the steering column locks near that turned position it can't fully return. when you try to turn the key there is a lot of pressure on the steering lock and it's difficult to relieve that pressure by turning the wheel because the power assist is not active due to the engine not running yet. The fix is to release any pressure on the wheel before you turn the ignition off.

gDMJoe

Bingo! We have a winner!
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crypto

I can sort of understand this explanation but don't really follow why this would make sense or ever happen. I wasn't the one who parked my truck, so I don't know if he did something strange.. but I've never had this problem when I've parked myself. I typically park with the wheels straight but have had them pointed different directions numerous times with no issue. I've never heard of a requirement for your wheels to be straight when you park either for the ignition to work .. so not sure when or why this would suddenly cause more pressure or lock in place in a manner effecting the ignition. Any way to articulate an exact scenario in which this would be expected behavior or is it just a fluke that happens sometimes?

F150_Dave

I'm not saying they have to be strait. The pressure on the steering system needs to be released before the steering column is locked. Just for the record, I've been a tech in a Ford dealership since the late 70s. I've run into this same customer concern before.

gDMJoe

What's to follow|make sense|not understand? It's been explained to you how the column locking system can|does get into the state that you've described.

It's not a flute|unexpected-behavior|anything else, and has been that way since the late 1960's / early 1970's (when locking steering columns came into being) and is normal when certain events/factors are met. In my experience it's the same for -ALL- automakers.

Don't believe it? Google [ steering wheel locked key not turn ]

What's the BFD?
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quenne1

Try this: get into your truck. Start it up. Turn the key off and remove it. Now with the key out turn the wheel until it locks. Now try to start it. It won't turn because you had to use force to get it to lock, and now will have to use force to unlock it. Sometimes the kids who park your truck like to play with stuff, or maybe he just tried to straighten the wheels after he pulled the key out. I once had a wash kid at the dealership I worked at break a 6 speed manual transmission in an Audi by sitting parked with the key off and rapidly shifting gears. He admitted it years later.

Scuba_Dave

I've had the same thing happen in different vehicles every now & then over the years
Its just a simple reaction now to move the steering wheel & the key will turn