The ignition key will not turn the cylinder unless the head of the key is beaten into the cylinder. Then the key will turn easily. So I took the cylinder down to the local trustworthy locksmith in Fayetteville so he could make two new keys. $45 later I had two shiney new keys in my hand and the ignition cylinder turns like it is brand new.

Now comes the problem. I put the cylinder into the steering column and right away I hear clickings from the starting relays without turning the key to the "on" position. The door chime also chimes away even with the key removed from the cylinder. The headlights will not work with the key in the "on" or "acc" positions. This has me scratching my head. Nothing associated with the electrical systems work.

I wonder if my locksmith dissasembled my ignition switch to get to the tumblers. I do not know what he did to the switch since he was not present when I picked up my switch. Is there a microchip imbedded in the switch which he might have thrown away? Any other ideas?

To be honest I first thought the battery was dead because the symptoms aforementioned seemed to me that the battery was dieing or dead. I took out my handy dandy DVOM and checked for volts across the terminals of the battery. 12+ volts. I even tried jumping my van with my metro. That did not help at all.

The locksmith told me that my keys which would not turn in the cylinder were a walmart brand. His new keys are: ilco P1795 Y159

Could he have given me the incorrect keys? I did try the old key to no avail. It gives me the same results.

I need some ideas, guys.
Terry

 

the key cyl is mechanical not electrical so it would have nothing to do with that Does your old key have a gray head or black?

 

The "old" keys were from walmart, according to my locksmith. They have black heads. The "new" keys from the locksmith are ilco and are smooth, meaning they do not have black heads. They are just one solid piece of metal. I wonder if the walmart keys had a chip in them?

I have pulled the cables off the battery terminals in order to reset the ECU but that did not help the situation. Any more ideas?

 

only the gray keys have the chips in them If all u did was the key cyl and it will not work now then it was something the lock smith did

 

Take off the ign switch use a screw driver to turn the switch see if the van starts up then if it does u know its an issue from the key cyl and or the column connection to the switch

 

I managed to fix my problem. After talking to the locksmith, I was informed that the key was not a chipped key. We talked some more and came to the conclusion that the battery was dead. How could that happen you might ask? Well, it appears that when the key is extracted it must first be turned to the "on" position. Once you pull the cylinder out of the steering column, the car is still in the " on" position. I simply ran the battery down. Remember to disconnect the battery before you pull the ignition cylinder.