Ignition tumbler wont turn over

[pdwalker93]

Went to leave work yesterday and put my key in the ignition and the truck wont turn over. the ignition wont even turn to turn on the aux power. they key doesn't get stuck or anything, buy it just wont turn. the morning of I tried to unlock the truck and nothing. so i had to use the key to open the door not the key remote and still nothing. i opened the hood and disconnected the terminals and reconnected them and she started right up. i looked up how to take the ignition tumbler out but you have to be able to turn the key over to aux power to press the release lever. my battery should be good considering i bought it only 5 months ago but my only thought now is to take out the entire ignition and replace it. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!

 

[Fish]

My first thought was the battery but if you say it's good then I don't know...:huh:

 

[alrock]

Did you try another key? Maybe one is worn out.

Beyond that, I suspect it's a dealer fix. Not sure about the H2, but on the H3 a Tech 2 is needed to program the new ignition housing to the BCM due to the Passlock security system.

 

[Renagade132]

Maybe the battery cables are dirty, damaged, or bad? Was there any corrosion on the terminal when you disconnected and reconnected? Because that can even happen to a new battery, new batteries can also be defective, so maybe have the place you bought it from check it? Do you have an auto starter on the truck? Did you try to see if it starts the truck when pressed?

 

[pdwalker93]

No unfortunately I only have one key. I'm thinking about instead of replacing the entire housing, im going to just drill out the old lock cylinder and replace it.

 

[pdwalker93]

No renagade i didn't see any corrosion. i'm going to try to hook up a spare battery and see if that will do the trick. i also don't have an auto starter either.

 

[Renagade132]

Pdwalker93, my ignition key cylinder went bad on mine too, but I guess in a different way, because my key will turn all the way, but won't hit/ignite the starter, so the engine won't turn on. I was originally going to swap it out too, but then I took advantage of the situation, and instead left it as is, and added a push to start switch in a secret spot, so you still have to put the key in and turn it in order to unlock the steering wheel, but the truck will not start till I hit the push to start switch! So now it almost has a secondary way to keep it from letting unwanting hands turn it on, or try to steal it!

 

[USMC_315]

I had an almost identical issue with my 2. Truck wouldn't turn over, couldn't get the key out a couple times, and the remote wouldn't work. I took the deuce to my Caddy dealership and they found frayed wires in the ignition housing were the culprit, along with worn down tumblers inside the key hole. Hope this helps

 

[pdwalker93]

Well gang, sorry it took me a while to update, but I fixed the issue.

So after multiple attempts to tap the key in with a rubber mallet, cleaning out the housing with electric cleaner and check every website I could find to fix this problem, I went and picked up a $50 key and tumbler replacement at O'Reilly's. It took me about 30 minutes to drill out the tumbler from the housing. I had to drill down to where the slide on the bottom of the tumbler was located and push it through the top of the tumbler. Once the slide was out I could turn the tumbler with a screwdriver until I could see the press release through the hole on top of the housing. With the new tumbler in, it turned over without issue and is now in working condition.

Will post pictures later.