[rkeysor]

Drove my '92 968 Friday and washed it today, Sunday. Inserted key into ignition, and, aside from a slight click, could not turn the key. Dabbed a bit of Break Free CLP on the key with no result. Retrieved and tried two other keys with the same result. There had been no indication of failure previously. I did spray some water around the engine for cleanup, but not up against the fire wall. Perhaps eight years ago I had a failure in the switch that prevented me from operating the wipers, etc. Kind of forgotten all of the implications. I had that part of the switch replaced, but did not have the ignition rekeyed. I've never worked on this aspect of the car, but would like to avoid having the car lifted and hauled 30 miles or so for repair. Ideas.

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[flash]

let's first make sure we have the symptom accurately described.



what i read here is that the key will not turn. that is to say that it is mechanically prevented from rotation. this is very different than the key turning and the car not starting.



is that correct?

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[tamathumper]

Starting with the really simple stuff, if the key won't turn, first make sure the steering wheel isn't cranked to one side. If it is, move it back toward center and the key should then be able to turn.

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[ds968]

Even if tne steering wheel is not cranked to one side, go ahead an wiggle it several times and don't be afraid to apply some force when doing that.. Worth a try, IMO . My son just experienced the same " key won't turn " symptom and after a few solid tugs in both directions on the steering wheel, the key worked just fine..

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[flash]

again, first we need to see if this is indeed the problem.

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[rkeysor]

It wasn't the switch, it was a 75 year old's moment of brain fade. After this episode began, I took the dog for a walk and was somehow reminded that one often has to turn the steering wheel a bit to allow the switch to operate. Tamathumper had it right. Heck, I've only owned this car for 14 years, my daily driver for all of that time. Maybe I'm spending too much time dealing with the sequential issues I find on my recently acquired Austin Healey 3000. As one wag recently said on a Healey Web site, drive it half an hour and work on it an hour. Sorry!

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[flash]

that's exactly why i wanted to know what the symptom really was, before diving into odd conclusions. i've done exactly what you did once, and had to jiggle the key while jiggling the wheel to get it to free up.

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[AJG]

[quote name='rkeysor' timestamp='1378208352' post='148617']

It wasn't the switch, it was a 75 year old's moment of brain fade. After this episode began, I took the dog for a walk and was somehow reminded that one often has to turn the steering wheel a bit to allow the switch to operate. Tamathumper had it right. Heck, I've only owned this car for 14 years, my daily driver for all of that time. Maybe I'm spending too much time dealing with the sequential issues I find on my recently acquired Austin Healey 3000. As one wag recently said on a Healey Web site, drive it half an hour and work on it an hour. Sorry!

[/quote]

Sequential issues? So its your fancy fandangle gear box that's the problem!

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