Key Stuck In Iginition For 1993 Plymouth Acclaim

Question

I have a 1993 Plymouth Acclaim. The key is stuck in the ignition. I think part of the reason for this is because earlier today, the fan went out, and a bunch of smoke came out of the steering column and dash - maybe their is a correlation? The key will not turn to the right or left. Thanks for any help you can give.

Answer 1

>>> So, you let the smoke out of the wires!<<<<<

It is common for the clock spring assembly to fail, either in the wiring portion of the circuit or the rotating part that connects all the steering wheel buttons (for cruise, horn and air bag). It's likely that the wiring to the ignition switch has burned, or the ignition switch itself has caused the ignition lock cylinder to  jam, in any event start by removing the upper and lower column covers (screws under hold it together from the bottom). You will be able to remove the ignition switch assembly with a small torx socket (E4 or E5 size) not a torx bit.

Look for any burned or over heated wires, or signs of arcing. you will usually be able to spot the problem.

FYI  Mark B.

The ignition switch is held by torx head bolts, and the inverted torx head sockets are identified by E , then the size in MM, a real mechanic with any practical experience would know this.

Answer 2

Have you checked for a release button on the underside of the steering column?

Answer 3

The clockspring has absolutely nothing to do with the ignition cylinder turning.

Chances are, the ignition switch itself burnt out, and that is preventing the cylinder from turning (replacement switch is part# 4797401 and should run about $70 or so). Hopefully, it didn't get into the wiring harness, but if it did, they sell a repair pigtail harness for them (about $45 for the harness). With enough force, you might be able to get it to turn backwards, but it might also break part of the cylinder by opding that, or even the key itself.

The switch burning up would explain all of the problems, when they go bad, they often cut the fan off and turn the airbag light on, and sometimes, before they melt down like yours did, they do it intermittently, and you can jiggle the key to get it to work correctly.

Unless your's is an early '94, the ignition switch will be right there with the key cylinder, with the cylinder actually going into the switch housing.

BTW, torx sizes are in T's with 2 numbers -- such as T-40, or T-45. The switch won't use a torx bit that big, either, I'm pretty sure it was a T-20H, which is a security torx bit, with the hole in the middle of it (the torx s***w has a peg in the middle). The cover uses either a T-15 bit or phillips head screwdriver to remove it.

Once the switch assembly is out, the cylinder can be removed from the switch by pushing in a roll pin if it's never been replaced, otherwise, there's a metal bracket that holds it in place that came off when you removed the switch.

It's possible there's other wires burnt, also, depending on where the smoke came from. The blower motor resistors were also bad about burning out and melting some wires. That smoke would've come from the right side of the dash, near the glovebox.

But sounds like the switch itself is definitely burnt.

----

The reverse torx (aka inverted, or female torx) sockets say E-4, E-5, etc (E is for external torx).

Those are for the torx bolts that have an external torx head (similar to a bolt).

HOWEVER, the ignition switch on these is held by the security torx screws, not the external torx bolts. Any real Chrysler/Dodge tech that's been doing it for more than about 8 years should know this. They used these switches on Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Jeep.

Trust me, I've changed enough of them to know this.

Go to this page: http://www.moparpart.com/cgi-bin/cat.pl?... , and you can see the switch comes with torx screws, and not reverse torx bolts (though it doesn't show the top to verify whether or not they're security screws). They also have the switch offered at a discounted price, which your local dealer parts department may be willing to match, if you ask them.