Last Updated on May 20, 2024
Why Is it Hard to Turn My Key in the Ignition?
If you’ve found this article consider yourself lucky!
When your car ignition is hard to turn, or when any car lock is hard to turn, this is the first sign that something is wrong with either your ignition or your car key. But is not yet bad enough that your key won’t turn the ignition, so you’re not stranded someplace.
This is the time to visit your local locksmith and set up an appointment to test your keys and/or your ignition or door locks to have them repaired or replaced.
Ignitions that are hard to turn are caused by one of these three issues: your car key is worn out, the ignition is damaged, or the ignition is gunked up with dirt & debris.
If your hard-to-turn ignition is caused by either of the first two issues, you want to get that taken care of right away, or you WILL eventually find yourself stranded.
The Ignition is Full of Gunk or Debris
Cause
ACME Locksmith is located in Phoenix. We are in a dry, dirty, dusty town and it gets everywhere, including our car ignitions.
Solution
The way to handle this is to try and flood the ignition with a silicon-based lubricant spray to get the dirt and gunk out (see why silicon-based lubricants are best). We recommend Tri-flow (Tri-flow is available on our website).
Do NOT use a non-silicon-based spray, like WD-40. If gunk is the problem, non-silicon-based sprays will actually attract more gunk over time, and you’ll find yourself back a square one.
If this is the cause of the ignition being hard to turn, the drips coming out from the spray will be VERY dark and dirty.
If this fixes the problem for only a short while, but it comes back fairly quickly, then the cause is likely one of the other two issues.
Key is Hard to Turn in Ignition Due to a Bad Key
Cause
Car keys, over time, will wear out. New car keys have sharp ridges and valleys that lift the wafers inside of a car lock to their proper position. As the key wears out, these ridges start to smooth over and they don’t do their job properly so the ignition becomes hard to turn or starts to stick.
The best way to determine if it is the key is to try a new key or a key that isn’t often used. So if you have a spare key sitting in a drawer of your home, try that key.
Solution
Did the problem go away with the spare key? If so, take that key to your local locksmith, get a duplicate of that key made, and toss the worn key out.
If you don’t have a spare key, a locksmith can either read your existing key or cut you a code key by VIN. Both give you a factory-original key. If that new key solves the problem, you’re good to go. Even if it doesn’t solve the problem, you now have a spare key for our car which you will need when the problem is solved.
Note: Most new vehicles have chipped keys. These keys will require that they be programmed to the car so the car will run.
You can get a car key using VIN online from ACME Locksmith. If the key is a chipped key, it will not be programmed, but you will be able to tell if this solved the sticking ignition problem. If it solves the problem, drive you car and the new key by VIN to a local locksmith to get it programmed.
The Ignition Is Worn Out
Car locks don’t use cylindrical pins like house locks. They use wafers. Sometimes single wafers and sometimes split wafers. Over time these wafers can become damaged. Our Tempe Locksmith Service sees this a lot because it’s a college town with a lot of older vehicles.
Cause
Do you have a huge key ring?
Hanging a heavy key ring from the ignition will cause damage. While you drive and hit bumps in the road it jostles the car, and in doing so that heavy key ring is pulling and pushing on the ignition wafers consistently. This will damage the wafers.
Once a car lock’s wafers are bent or split, the lock starts to stick and become hard to turn. The next step after this is the ignition will stop turning. Here is our article on what to do try when your car key won’t turn the ignition.
The Ignition is Just Wore Out
You can’t stop time. Over the tens of thousands of miles on your car that ignition has been turned on and off thousands of times. This simply wears out the ignition and makes it hard to turn. It’s the first sign that it needs to be fixed, don’t ignore this sign! Hondas are famous for this!
Solution
If the lubricant didn’t work (or only worked for a short while) and the new key didn’t work, then the ignition is going to have to be repaired or replaced. When you can still turn the ignition, this is a relatively easy process. A locksmith, a mechanic, or yourself if you are handy, can pull the ignition from the car and then take it to a locksmith who does ignition repair.
Your local locksmith will remove and replace the wafers in your existing lock for well under $100 bucks (at the time of this writing we charge $75). None of your car keys have to be replaced or programmed, and this is the easiest way to get the problem fixed.
You could also buy a new ignition, but that ignition won’t have keys for it that are programmed to your car. So, to save money, if you go with a new ignition, take it to your local automotive locksmith and have the wafers replaced so that your current keys work the locks.
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