won't start on hot days

I responded to a similar post last month. I had an issue like this and no one else could figure it out until I tried something new. I live in Georgia, the Dirty South, and it gets real hot down here. I had this issue for years and it got much worse last September.

My problem was that the ignition switch is plastic and the lock cylinder is metallic. The heat caused the cylinder to get really hot and thus the plastic of the switch would expand and no matter how hard I would turn the key, it would not turn the switch far enough for ignition.

Even when the weather was not that hot, the car was hard to crank. I had to turn the key extra hard and fast for it to crank. I even developed callous on my thumb.

I didn't replace the switch, but I could have. Instead, I found something to place between the switch and cylinder. So, that even when it gets real hot the cylinder will still turn the switch far enough to crank the car every time. Haven't had a problem since.

Hey Charlie, I'm pretty sure my son's car has the same problem you had. When it won't start, I tried to bang the steering wheel up and down after releasing the locking arm. The jarring caused the ignition connection and it started.

What did you use as a spacer and exactly where did you place it?

Thanks, P~