Key won't turn

I'm posting this for my brother, who has a 2001 xtra cab. 3.4L manual transmission. When he tried to leave for work this morning his key would not turn in the ignition. It will occasionally get far enough for the stereo and heater blower to run, but not far enough to have the starter engage. It's parked in a level driveway with the wheels straight. No, the wheel is not locked, we already looked into that. I tried using lock de-icer because it was below freezing this morning. 4wd is not engaged, we tried rolling it down the driveway to see if we could loosen any pressure on the steering column, but no luck there either. Any ideas on how to fix this?

 

Ignition lock cylinder is toast. Tumblers are most likely broken inside. Before he does anymore damage, stop trying to start it. Find a used lock cylinder and key and replace it. The idea is to be able to turn it ACC and push a little button and the lock cylinder slides out. If you cant turn to ACC, its a bitch of a job to get it out.

 

Excuse me if this is a dumb question, but if he does that and gets a new key, won't he need to get the locks changed in his doors then? And thanks for the quick reply by the way. I'll tell him to stop forcing it.

 

Same thing happened to me and at a gas station with a full tank of gas. I kept forcing it for 2 hours until i couldnt get the key even in. Had to leave the truck over night and get it towed to my shop. Bought a lock cylinder w/ key for $60 at auto wreckers and replaced it. What a pain!!!!

And yes i have two keys.

 

Alright, thanks guys. I'll spread the good/bad news. I hope he is happy with 2 keys and I am just glad this did not happen to me. do you have to take the whole dash apart or just the two panels around the ignition/clock?

 

Basically you want to expose the underside of the cylinder so you can push a button and release the lock.

 

Similar thing has happened to me twice, both times I just kept messing with it, turning the wheel back and forth, and within about 30 minutes was able to get it to turn, had the best luck trying to turn it with the key pulled out slighty more than normal. The wierd thing was both times the wheel wouldn't lock up like it normally does when turned.

 

i just jiggle mine..

 

thats what she said

 

have you check to see if key is bad? never happen to me but if it does screw driver is my best friend

 

who is this "she"? sounds like a whore.

 

there is a park safety key turn preventoin thingy on the key cylinder. unbolt it and the key might turn. i had the same problem myself a while back

 

Alright thanks guys. I ended up towing him to a locksmith. They said the tumblers need to be fixed and they'll do it for 20 bucks. We'll try that first and see if it fixes the problem.