My girlfriend's car won't start bc the key won't even turn. The key isn't stuck in the ignition. We have tried turning the steering wheel and wiggling the key, but the key just won't budge at all. There was one other time that the key was having a tough time turning but now it's totally stuck. What's wrong with it? How do I fix it? Is it the ignition lock cylinder? Ideas?

 

if its an auto, try stepping on the brakes a few times & shift the gear lever through PRND and try taking it out. My 01 did this to me a few times and it worked every time if I felt the key was stuck. let us know if it worked.

 

spare key ???

 

I just changed the ignition at honda about a month ago, same problem on a 5spd it was the tumblers... be carefull one dealer wanted 800$ for parts and labour to change the whole ignition switch the other dealer just changed the tumblers and cost me $160... its a commen issue

 

Had this issue on my 03 ex daily. Ended up taking the lock cylinder apart and removing the tumblers that were worn from the lock mechanism. Took three out of the about 10 or so and lubed it up good before I threw it back in. Good, you don't have to spend ungodly amounts of money from Honda or wait on parts to get it going again. Bad, the car is technically now 30% easier to pick the ignition lock. I'm not so worried about it though because it does have the RFID transmitter key, and also insurance would cover it.

 

^^^ bump tumblers.

 

Hey, mingus

not sure if u fixed the problem, but something like this happened to me today and it ended up being the ELD or Electric Load Detector in the engine bay fuse box. There's a test for it in the manual.

 

How did you remove the tumblers?

 

I have a 2002 Honda Accord LX, and i'm experiencing something similar. My car has been idle for over a year due to the pandemic so the battery is dead. Tried turning the steering left/right (because it's locked) then twisting the key but it won't. I can pull the key in and out but it won't twist.