New memeber here - Our Pilot had a balky ignition lock, key went in hard, or not at all, got worse, sometimes would not turn.

I've read all the horror stories on Piloteers.org where it seemed most people ended up replacing the lock barrel, getting a new key, and replacing the door locks or having separate keys. The imobilizer is one buggaboo - it has to be re-programmed or replaced. The lock itself has tamper-resistant screws, and the corporate fear around airbags has them taking the whole car apart to get enough safe access to take out the switch. Add this all up including towing to the stealership for this party and its a very spendy proposition.

In my case, I unplugged the nearby harnesses at the switch and imobilizer, and used a dremel to cut slots in the screw heads. For taking the lock apart there's a great video at
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...54176721,d.b2I

The Pilot switch is slightly different from the video but close enough that the job was a success. The lock had 3 worn/deformed "tumblers" or "levers" inside that were obvious on inspection. Our Pilot is fixed - with the original key, no trip to the dealer, no reprogramming, no investment other than some time spent learning about Honda locks.