Good afternoon y'all,

My father has a 2004 Honda Element with 260k miles on it. Yesterday, he noticed that he was having trouble turning his key in the ignition, and after around three more times of starting the car, it was nearly impossible to insert the key and impossible to turn it. It got harder to put in each time. He then tried the valet key, our only spare key, and it started first try. However, it quickly became harder to insert and now it's the same story. Will barely go in after around 60 seconds of fiddling and won't turn. I read online that this could be a bad pin in the ignition lock and that I'd need to remove the lock and bring it to a locksmith. I just want to verify that that is what the problem is, or if there's anything else that it could be. Please let me know if you have any ideas or information. Thank you!

 

It's a worn lock which happens all the time. You can remove 1-2 worn sliders and keep using the same key or install a new lock.

 

Maybe a second hand lock & key from the scrap yard might help you out.

 

I had this happen to my 2003 CRV. I took the lock out, took it apart, and as another person mentioned, you can removed the wafers that are really worn and distorted. then lubricate it and put it all back together. I think there are 8 wafers and I took out 6. I only left the two that are deepest down in the lock. Only two is not a bad compromise, as there is still the key transponder system (I forget the name of that system) in place.
the good thing about this fix is that all your existing keys will still work.
if you get the ignition replaced different keys may be needed for doors/ignition.
Bud