Ignition Key won't turn in 99 Grand Voyager

leftie wrote:
> ...He also said that the
> lubricant to use when one of these things does start sticking is BP
> Blast...never use WD40...

He is right about WD40 - it has no lubricating properties or staying
power whatsoever - not a good lubricant, nor is it a good penetrating
oil at all either. I suspect what he recommended was "PB Blaster" -
which is a very good penetrating oil. Never heard of BP Blast.
Personally, I use spray lithium grease - real lithium grease in a very
light carrier - the carrier evaporates leaving a nice, very thin layer
of the white lithium grease - has good lubricating properties and real
staying power.

> He also said that you should only have the key
> and maybe the remote on the key chain when it's in the ignition vs.
> having a ton of keys hanging off of it....the weight of the other keys
> eventually damages the cylinder...

I know he's technically right, but that's not practical. I mean - I'm
either supposed to carry around multiple key chains - one for each
vehicle I own and and another for all other keys, or stop and separate a
single on into two every time I get in, and put them back together when
I get out of the car - give me a break.

I carry around a fairly good size set of keys, and in 40 years of
driving I've had to replace or lube two ignition switch cylinders on my
personal vehicles.

--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

Yes, you are correct (my apologies)...it was PB Blaster. As for the
other keys hanging off of your key chain, I agree. While it's good
advice, it's not practical. I've been driving for the same amount of
years and this is the first time I've had to replace a cylinder. Ergo,
I'm not to worried about having a somewhat substantial collection of
keys on my chain. I think one of the main considerations in all of this
discussion is that if you can avoid going to a dealer to get something
fixed then go that route.


--
leftie
Message Origin: TRAVEL.com

leftie > writes:

> Yes, you are correct (my apologies)...it was PB Blaster. As for the
> other keys hanging off of your key chain, I agree. While it's good
> advice, it's not practical. I've been driving for the same amount of
> years and this is the first time I've had to replace a cylinder. Ergo,
> I'm not to worried about having a somewhat substantial collection of
> keys on my chain. I think one of the main considerations in all of this
> discussion is that if you can avoid going to a dealer to get something
> fixed then go that route.

I frankly don't believe the claim about extra keys. I just can't
think of a credible mechanism by which this can cause extra wear.

Disclaimer: I did indeed need to replace the ignition switch cylinder
on my '78 Newport a couple of years ago. So it did indeed fail after
just short of 30 years, with my Mom hanging all her keys for the first
20 or so and me hanging all mine in the years after.

leftie wrote:
> ...I think one of the main considerations in all of this
> discussion is that if you can avoid going to a dealer to get something
> fixed then go that route.

Amen to that! Been my philosophy for years ever since my first bad
experiences some years ago.

--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')