Brand new member of the forum. Thanks for being here.

I have had my ‘99 Honda four-door sedan EX since 2003. In Texas.

I’ve maintained it well. it’s at 236,371 miles!

But just had to have the transmission rebuilt. It was completely shot. It’s now working well.

But when I drove the car home, I had a new problem that I didn’t have when I took it to the transmission shop, I couldn’t get the key out of the ignition when I put the gear in park. I moved the gear lever back and forth a few times, and got it out finally. This happened several times. But not all the time.

So I took it back to the transmission shop last week. They decided it was the ignition cylinder. They replaced it. I just got it back on Friday.
First drive today. The key came out easily at my destination. But it did not when I got home.

I’m upset because I now have an after-market ignition cylinder with one key, instead of a Honda cylinder which was replaced once before for legitimate reasons and had two keys.

Another relevant fact, maybe, is that three months ago my gear lever handle broke. And I got it replaced.

Can somebody here please guide me on what to do next? Neither this repair shop nor the one that referred me to them knows what’s going on.

Thanks in advance,

Carole

 

Long shot, but there are some threads on this forum and and on other sites about key stuck in the ignition. At least it may help eliminate a possible cause in your case.

Also, the '99 in my sig still had one outstanding safety recall of the ignition switch (there were 2 in my case) that I didn't deal with until earlier this year, but the dealer fixed it in a couple of hours. If all else fails, my point is that 24+ year old Accords should still be able to be diagnosed at a (hopefuly a decent) dealer at least with respect to the ignition switch.

 

Thank you so much. The links you sent give a lot of information.I thinkI should be able to go back to the shop that replaced the gear lever handle and have hem address the shift position switch; maybe it just needs cleaning. About the recall, I have seen that there was a 2003 recall for an ignition park-shift interlock defect, Would Honda still fix this after 20 years?

 

Called Honda. Apparently I have no open recalls. I had the ignition switch recall done.

Taking it to the shop that installed the new gear lever tomorrow. The mechanic reckons it was something that transmission guys didn't do right-- but they told me when I called them that they don't do work on the gear switch. I will let you know the outcome.

 

Good luck!
Wonder if shooting some WD-40 in the old cylinder (I know it's been swapped out) would've helped?

 

Thanks for the reply. Given that replacing the cylinder has made no difference, I doubt if WD-40 would have done anything. Hoping that my regular mechanic, who I think is more used to working on old cars, will be able to see what the issue is. But it is a good reminder that WD-40 should be a go to solution in the short term, unless there is any Honda part that should not be doused in it.

 

Ya, just a guess. Never know haha
Good luck. I'm curious how it turns out.

 

Went to my local repair guy. He said the transmission guys didn’t make any mistakes.

I showed him this YouTube video that I found and he said he’d charge three hours labor to clean it, but it might not fix it. Then he researched replacing the whole switch unit and said it would cost about $800 for part, shipping and labor.

So I’ve decided to live with the issue for a while. I’m thinking maybe it’s time to get a newer vehicle.

 

Did you see the post by 'Mad Mike' on this thread noting the possibility that a cable is out of adjustment ... only reason I'm pointing to that one is that Mad Mike is one of the experts here. Otherwise,. sorry I'm not more help. Assuming I have the AT rebuilt in mine (at 156K it's still OK) some day it'll be something I check before leaving the shop.

 

Thanks for that link. I’ll keep it in mind in case I do decide to get my mechanic open it up and check.

 

Another quick question, how much time would it take to disassemble the center console, remove the cover over the gearshift and expose the switch. The video says: take out some bolts and lift everything off, but the guy had done it before doing his video. Is this a long job?