Town & Country 99 Mini Van Key couldn't start the ignition?????

Okay, this is frustrating. I really need a lot of help from different viewer. This happened to me before and it happened again. When I put my key into the mini van, I couldn't turn my key at all to start my van. It was like I was using the wrong key. I couldn't turn my key and of course and ignition wouldn't start. This happened to me before but the problem went away after we tried to insert the key to the mini van a few times. But this time, nothing seems to work. I have tried to put the key in so many times, tried to turn the wheels, tried to wiggle the park gear and step on the brake and nothing works!!!!! I had called my dealership about this problem and they seemed to have no clue about it. Please give me some advise as in what I should do. I really don't want to spend money on towing my van to the dealer and have them look at it. Thanks!

Reply to
Abschick
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The key cylinder is no good, your dealer is aware of this because we are constantly replacing them for this problem, take and tap on the key with a metal object or something solid (as you were trying to make it go further in) as you are turning it and it will turn, Have the key cylinder replaced and recoded. Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reply to
maxpower

Maxpower's directions and advice are excellent. This has happened twice on our 1999 T&C. The first time was under warranty and towed to the dealer who replaced the cylinder. The second time was a year or so ago and I removed the cylinder and lubricated it with graphite and oil. It lasted about a year and began to do the same thing, so I sent my key to a web dealer who rekeyed a cylinder for me ($25 fee plus parts) and mailed the assembly back which I put into the van. This was about half the price at the local dealer and the task is pretty simple. It only took about 15 minutes to remove the column shroud and get at the cylinder.

Good luck. Dealer indicated the new cylinder is an improved design.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Sorry that I have to ask a stupid question, what is the key cylinder? is it where I insert my key? My husband tried to follow your instruction and tap on the key. He was able to turn the key to where the radio was on. Then he couldn't turn it any further. I got this mini van from Ebay through a dealer. I am wondering how I can find out if it is still under warrantee (I guess it should not be under any warantee)? Do you know how much the dealer will charge for changing the Cylinder? Bob(another person who replied to my posting) said he changed it himself and it was easy to do. Do you think I can do it too? My husband and I had no experience fixing cars. Thanks.

Reply to
Abschick

It costed me over 300 dollars to have my lock cylinder replaced.It took the dealer tech over 3 hours to fix it.Main problem was my steering wheel was locked.So dealer told me the steering wheel had to be unlocked to remove the old lock cylinder.Thats when he told me it could cost me over 400 bucks more because they may have to break the steering column and replace it.But some how they found away to remove the lock cylinder without breaking the column.By the way my car is a 2000 dodge stratus se.

Reply to
THE HITMAN

The warranty on that van is 3/36 you have no warranty, yes it can be replaced easy but you should use new Key wafers/tumblers. And since you have no idea what/where the cylinder is, I recommend having the dealer do it. cost maybe $150.00?

Reply to
maxpower

Same thing, tap on the key as you want to make it go in further and turn at the same time, that will release it and allow it to turn, 400$ sounds ridiculous

Reply to
maxpower

I agree $400 is high, but my local dealer wanted over $300 when I called to inquire on the price over the phone. As I mentioned earlier, I found a dealer on the web who was willing to send me the re-keyed cylinder for $109 total. This included the replacement cylinder, new key tumblers, springs, and $25 labor for keying, plus a few dollars for shipping. Installation was very easy, especially since I'd had the cylinder out on at least tow previous occasions to buy me an extra year of use before I finally bit the bullet and replaced the ignition lock.

The only down side was I had to wait about 8 days if memory serves me right for them to receive my key and ship me the re-keyed cylinder. The interval was not an issue for us since it was only getting stuck every 10th or 20th start (not every time) and we knew the trick on how to "coerce" the key in a little bit more to make it turn.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

You had to ship them a key to code the cylinder? that's odd, Normally all they need to do is get the vin number and code it off of that. But that sounds like a reasonable price for the part

Reply to
maxpower

Yes, I could have just given the VIN, but they suggested I send them the key since that way they could guarantee 100% that the cylinder was keyed correctly. I thought this was a good idea, and I trusted the parts guy who I've been dealing with for many years now. I also thought the price was reasonable given the alternative.

Another option here is to purchase the blank cylinder and then have a good local locksmith do the keying for you using a key as well.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Good luck with that, I have yet to find a local locksmith willing to rekey automotive locks on a onesie-twosie basis, especially for older cars.

On the upside, I've found a guy through a car club I belong to who is in Missouri that will do it; I just sent him a glovebox lock to make a key for and a door lock to rekey to my key. Total cost $25 including a couple extra ignition blanks for old Studebakers (I can't find those locally either) and return shipping to me plus maybe $2 to ship the stuff to him. Can't beat that with a stick.

nate

Reply to
N8N

Reply to
mic canic

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