Thread: Replacing lock cylinder?

Apparently my keyswitch lock cylinder is going bad (2001 GP). You have to hold your mouth just right and jiggle awhile to get from 'lock' to 'run'. Going back to 'acc' is sometimes an adventure also.
Question: What is involved in replacing the lock cylinder? Do I have to get all new matching keys with the new lock? I know how to program blank keys if I have one good one but in this case I assume I'd be starting out with no good keys. I seached the forums and found lots of switch replacement and park solenoid how-to's but none documenting the replacement of a lock cylinder.
Thanks
Scott

Originally Posted by scottm

Apparently my keyswitch lock cylinder is going bad (2001 GP). You have to hold your mouth just right and jiggle awhile to get from 'lock' to 'run'. Going back to 'acc' is sometimes an adventure also.
Question: What is involved in replacing the lock cylinder? Do I have to get all new matching keys with the new lock? I know how to program blank keys if I have one good one but in this case I assume I'd be starting out with no good keys. I seached the forums and found lots of switch replacement and park solenoid how-to's but none documenting the replacement of a lock cylinder.
Thanks
Scott

before you replace the lock cylinder try pressing a little pushrod thats underneath your steering column , theres a hole in there and just poke it wth a thin screwdriver or whatever you wanna use and see if your key unlocks ..
its a common thing on these cars ..

The problem isn't getting the key out (we've been sticking finger in and manually popping the solenoid). The problem is after you insert the key you can't turn it from lock to run (or ACC) without a lot of jiggling/wiggling the keys. That wouldn't be caused by the park lock solenoid would it? I think it's just that the key cylinder is worn out. Am I mistaken here?
Thanks for the input.
Scott