This story is amusing more than anything else but there may be some tidbits in here to help the unwary and the unlucky... I own a 99 Intrepid purchased new and driven for 135k so far. It has served me well but not without complaint - (the $1200 steering rack STILL hurts!) Anyway, on to my problem... I stopped for lunch the other day and when I came out the ignition didn't turn. I mean mechanically the ignition cylinder was locked. It has been acting up but now it wouldn't turn at all. I had coincidentally just purchased, a few minutes prior, a tube of graphite for this very issue. Of course I couldn't open the tube (no tools) so I used my teeth, but that compressed the tube tip opening a bit. While the tube was that close to my face I happened to read the label which warned inhaling the contents of the tube could be detrimental to life itself and to be careful. When I went to spray it in the ignition it resisted, so I squeezed a bit harder. On the second squeeze, it exploded into a puff of dust right in front of my face! I think half the tube emptied! I opened the door and windows very quickly and hopefully most of it blew away. I tried to free the ignition for about a 1/2 hour, the key had to overcome the graphite dam in the cylinder to fully seat. Meanwhile I tried to see if the shift interlock was the issue and in that process I applied to much force and I broke it! I can now shift out of gear without a key in the ignition! Luckily there is a recall from Dodge for this that I luckily had had done yet - so now I need to have that fixed. Eventually I had to walk to my wife's car (a block away), take that home, get another key, and some light lubricant.
At home, I called two car dealers to see what Dodge could do for me, nothing. As a matter of fact one of them *refused* to take the car because they couldn't have an immobile car on the lot with the snow coming! (anybody want the name of this dealer?) I called a locksmith, I would have to pay 'night rates' if I wanted them to come that night (didn't say how much) but *day* rates are $195 to replace the ignition cylinder. I mentioned that I put (a lot) of graphite in the lock and he exclaimed - "NO! No graphite!" - which I though was weird - as that's what it is for. He then suggested using oil, which I had already decided to do, and only then I realized why the graphite was bad. I went back with the key and the Kroil and had a go. Lot's of goop came out (graphite congealed with the oil), so I kept trying, alternately removing the key and cleaning the oily graphite gunk off. If I couldn't get it going I was calling a tow truck (couldn't tow it myself because the front wheels won't turn if the ignition is off), (but mostly because up to 2ft of snow was predicted the next day and unhappy plow drivers would have gleefully plowed in the only obstacle in the large parking lot. Also, the parking lot was not the best area of town.) After another 1/2 hour of persistent effort I *finally* got it freed. I didn't want to shut it off till I got home so I had to go back, get my wife then go back to get her car then go home. After I got home it wouldn't work again (as expected) so I used a degreaser in the ignition and compressed air to clean it. After several cycles of that I used the Kroil again and it seems like new again! Apparently, according to the locksmith, at over 135k miles and 6 years, the lint from your pockets and other grit clings to the keys and finds its way into the lock tumblers causing them to jam and/or sometimes wear inappropriately. It will cost $85 for a new ignition cylinder at a locksmith (indexed to my keys) if I bring the car to them....for now I am just going to see how it is for a while. So the morals of this story are: to check, clean and lubricate your locks! And don't apply excessive force to graphite tubes and shift levers! ;-) Regards, Bob Burrowes 99 Dodge Intrepid 00 Nissan Pathfinder Factory Five 65 Ford Cobra Replica (build up to be chronicled on www.427sc.com) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/46t0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Web: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid> Subscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Moderator: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
