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okay.. so i pull into my driveway and goto turn off my car. well i turned to key towards me to turn it off and it turned and the key came out but... the car is still running!!    My ignition switch is toast    I am so mad right now! It just went like that.. no problems until now. Either way i mangaged to un hook the battery cable for a temporary fix ,but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how much it might cost to get this fixed. any info would be appreciated.

hah,

mine does that too.  i think its kind of a neat little trick actually.  it allows me to leave my car running and still lock it if i just have to run in somewhere real quick.  actually, i think most older chevy's do that.

-Ben

Quote (Angelgirl8118 @ Mar. 23 2003,16:02)okay.. so i pull into my driveway and goto turn off my car. well i turned to key towards me to turn it off and it turned and the key came out but... the car is still running!!   My ignition switch is toast   I am so mad right now! It just went like that.. no problems until now. Either way i mangaged to un hook the battery cable for a temporary fix ,but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how much it might cost to get this fixed. any info would be appreciated.
The rack in the column that the lock cylinder moves, has broken. The part is like $20 bucks roughly, but is a pain to replace, takes a few hours to do... if you have the proper tools.

Quote (stizkidz @ Mar. 23 2003,20:52)hah,

mine does that too.  i think its kind of a neat little trick actually.  it allows me to leave my car running and still lock it if i just have to run in somewhere real quick.  actually, i think most older chevy's do that.

-Ben
well, it would be kinda cool if i knew how to turn my car off...

You have to drop the plastic shield under the lt side of the dash, and remove the the "knee bolster" which is the colored part of the dash right below the dash. On the column, there are 2 rods, one (the most accessible) is the one to operate the dimmer switch for the h/l's. The 2nd, is a bit tougher to see and equally as hard to access, but it travels down to a long switch with 2 plugs in it. If you can grab any portion of that rod, and if memory serves me correctly, move it toward the floor (downward) and it will shut the car off. The key must be in the off position. If the car does not shut off, then it may need to pull up ward. It's tough to remember since a tilt column works one way, and a non tilt works the other.

I took my car to get fixed it turns out it was the rod itself that broke..$90.00 for the part itself. I'm scared what it'll cost with labor though. It took the guy almost two hours to get into the column to find the problem and now my car has to stay at the garage over night till he gets the part tomorrow morning. If all goes well i'll have my car back tomorrow afternoon...

Quote (JCZ26 @ Mar. 23 2003,22:42)You have to drop the plastic shield under the lt side of the dash, and remove the the "knee bolster" which is the colored part of the dash right below the dash. On the column, there are 2 rods, one (the most accessible) is the one to operate the dimmer switch for the h/l's. The 2nd, is a bit tougher to see and equally as hard to access, but it travels down to a long switch with 2 plugs in it. If you can grab any portion of that rod, and if memory serves me correctly, move it toward the floor (downward) and it will shut the car off. The key must be in the off position. If the car does not shut off, then it may need to pull up ward. It's tough to remember since a tilt column works one way, and a non tilt works the other.
On the tilt steering column you have to pull towards you.  Trust me.  I have to do this everyday.  Plus I can't even start it with the key.  I have to reach in the column and push the rod downwards to start it.  It used to be just pull to turn it off but it got to the point where it wouldn't start either.  I would love to replace the lockset myself but I looked in the repair manual and the only instructions for replacing it was "take it to a dealer."  It said that a special tool is requiered to fix it.  Anyone know where to get this tool?  

Sorry AngelGirl but I Have took over this post!  

Quote (Angelgirl8118 @ Mar. 24 2003,14:35)I took my car to get fixed it turns out it was the rod itself that broke..$90.00 for the part itself. I'm scared what it'll cost with labor though. It took the guy almost two hours to get into the column to find the problem and now my car has to stay at the garage over night till he gets the part tomorrow morning. If all goes well i'll have my car back tomorrow afternoon...
That can't be right, the rod can't break, it's a bit thicker than a coat hanger, and would bend long before it ever broke. It has to be the rack, a lousy $20.00 part, never ever saw a rod break yet. The rod can't be 90 bucks, it's a shaped very stiff rigid piece of wire. Sounds like a rip to me. How about you Chris Embrey? do you agree?

Quote (Quad4_72 @ Mar. 24 2003,17:20)Sorry AngelGirl but I Have took over this post! ÂÂÂ
Not a problem  

Quote (hurst @ Mar. 24 2003,17:55)That can't be right, the rod can't break, it's a bit thicker than a coat hanger, and would bend long before it ever broke. It has to be the rack, a lousy $20.00 part, never ever saw a rod break yet. The rod can't be 90 bucks, it's a shaped very stiff rigid piece of wire. Sounds like a rip to me. How about you Chris Embrey? do you agree?
Please do not tell me that! Or I swear there is gonna be some major a$$ kicking going on tomorrow when i goto get my car!!

I would say that you should ask for the old parts, then go to the dealer with the pieces and get prices, retail prices.

I don't post replys to other posts very often because i can't pretend that i know much about cars. General engineering and ghetto rigging however i have become quite adept at. This same exact problem happened to me this past autumn. I have to agree completely with what has previously been posted..... there is no way it could have been the rod that broke and it is insane to try and charge someone $90 for an oversized coat hanger.
 Anyway..... that dosen't help you get your car on and off.  In order to fix it properly so your key will control your ignition you need a special tool for removing a pin in the tilt steering column (did you say you had tilt steering)...... the problem is that this tool is next to impossible to aquire. If you don't mind not having to turn a key to turn your car on and off you can disconnect the ignition switch from the steering column and it can be re-routed. I cut a hole in the back of the little map compartment down thwere and mounted the switch there. now its just a matter of pushing the rod in to turn it on and pulling the rod out to turn it off.  If your interested in going this route, let me know and i will see what i can do as far as giving you more detailed instructions... i might even be able to borrow a digital camera from a friend of mine and get some pics for it.  The hardest part of the whole thing is removing the steering wheel lock, but even that isn't too hard.

 ok, hope that helps


   Janus


p.s.  you can turn off the engine by pulling one of the fuses on the block..... i think it was the fuse for the fuel injectors (go figure).

Well thanx for the help guys... but damage has been done and the bill has been paid for. It was the rack that had broke and i was billed $91.20 for it... Think in Can. funds too.. it would put the price up and it did come straight from the dealership...it was the labor that killed me! But oh well... atleast I have my car back and she's working.

Thanx Again Guys

I had that happen to my GTZ, it cost me 450 dollars cause the bar with the teeth on it that the gear rides on broke, the part the key goes into (the lock cyl) broke and the ignition switch got all messed up.  Also had the turn signal switch done cause i had to hold it up to make it signal for a right turn not fun while driving stick and steering.  Also i lost the car for 1 and a half weeks cause the damn dealer took forever then sent the wrong part  ÂÂÂ