sticky ignition

[tvanwing]

So, I recently bought my second ranger, a 1997 4x2 stepside for driving around town and the ignition sometimes gets stuck. The worst it has ever been has been when it took me 5 minutes of jiggling the key and shaking the wheel back and forth to get it to turn. Any ideas why this happens/what I can do about it? Has this happened to anyone else?

Originally I thought it happened only when I turned the wheel before inserting the key, but it seems to happen even when I don't do that. I'd say the ignition is difficult to turn about 5 to 10 % of the time I start the truck. Also, there are no problems with actually starting the truck, just with turning the key.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[martin]

sounds to me like a badly worn lock barrel or key. I would change the barrel before it gets any worse. It's not an expensive part.

 

[snake]

Yep. Also make sure the shifter doesn't have it in a bind if it is an auto tranny. Pull up toward park a little further next time it does this.

 

[tvanwing]

Yea its a manual tranny I guess I should have mentioned that. Thanks for the advice on the lock barrel, I will look into that. Any other ideas? Thanks a lot!