byekryam

I think I had this problem a long time ago but can't remember the details.

I get out of my Cherokee this morning and have trouble turning off the truck. The ignition key is stuck so it can't get back to the position where you remove the key. After some rigorous wrestling, twisting, and turning, I get the key out.

Upon coming back out after work, I turn the truck on and the radio, blinkers, and heater does not work. I think it's a fuse and am destined to figure it out once I get home. Upon getting home, I have the same problem with the key. Lo and behold, the key finally comes out and now I have a radio, heater, and blinkers. This is crazy!

So I am to believe that there's some type of kill switch in the steering column which deactivates this circuit.

Is this a normal problem with these vehicles? Is there a quick fix? What's entailed? Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I seem to remember dealing with this once before, whether it was with my wife's Cherokee or mine.....

Thanks,
Woody

Kingfisher

Sounds like you need to replace the switch.

byekryam

King, you may be right, but for some reason I distictly remember there being a quick fix for this, or that there was some way of making this repair easier then replacing the whole thing (which I remember as being a little more then just a quick repair). I could be wrong........

How hard is replacing the switch?

Rockfrog

Bottom of steering column, couple screws and a rod, easy peasy.

Jooman07

Next time this happens (assuming its an automatic trans) try wiggling the shifter some and even push it forward to make sure its in park all the way. Mine has that problem sometimes. Just a feature pretty much all vehicles have. That might be the root cause and the radio and stuff messing up may be a side effect of wrestling with the ignition switch to get the key out.

But yeah if it is only the ignition switch its pretty east to change.

byekryam

Just a quick update......tried the shifter pushing trick with no avail. Then watched several youtube videos. Let me tell you, the "hitting the key in the ignition" trick, did not work for me. So from there I went to the "WD40" trick and that didn't work. Then I went to the "grease in the ignition" trick and it helped a great deal. It's not totally smooth, but it's a step forward. If this doesn't work, then I'm going to changing the whole ignition. Thanks guys for the input!

cruiser54

Here's a diagram for ya.

byekryam

Thanks