99 T&C ignition lock cylinder

[Frank Boettcher]

My '99 T & C's ignition lock cylinder is hanging up. Took it out and
looked it over. Appears that the rotating portion with the detents to
stop at the various positions has grooves worn into it by the spring
loaded hardened detent pins. Doesn't seem to be any way to fix it.
Cleaning and liberal application of lubriplate grease had no affect.

Is there an aftermarket source for this part, or am I stuck with
Chrysler (and their normal exhorbitant service part prices)? The few
places I've gone online have come up blank. And in either case, can
I get a replacement that matches the current key set?

 

[Neil Nelson]

My '99 T & C's ignition lock cylinder is hanging up. Took it out and
looked it over. Appears that the rotating portion with the detents to
stop at the various positions has grooves worn into it by the spring
loaded hardened detent pins. Doesn't seem to be any way to fix it.
Cleaning and liberal application of lubriplate grease had no affect.

Is there an aftermarket source for this part, or am I stuck with
Chrysler (and their normal exhorbitant service part prices)? The few
places I've gone online have come up blank. And in either case, can
I get a replacement that matches the current key set?

Any competent D-C dealership parts department can code a new
lock cylinder for you, usually while you wait. You can
check with a local locksmith, usually they are very familiar
with automotive locks and many have inventory for curent
vehicles.

Major line parts stores such as NAPA and CarQuest have lock
cylinders available also, but they usually come pre-coded.

The price is the price, if it were really cheap, it wouldn't
be of much use, would it?

 

[Frank Boettcher]

Any competent D-C dealership parts department can code a new
lock cylinder for you, usually while you wait. You can
check with a local locksmith, usually they are very familiar
with automotive locks and many have inventory for curent
vehicles.

Major line parts stores such as NAPA and CarQuest have lock
cylinders available also, but they usually come pre-coded.

Thanks very much for the information.

The price is the price, if it were really cheap, it wouldn't
be of much use, would it?

I run a manufacturing plant. I have a good approximation of what it
cost to make and I also know that the total margin and markup will net
a price at least ten times that.

I could stomach that (my company does the same thing) if it were not
for the inherently poor design. The hardness differential between the
pins and the rotating detent casting which appears to zinc or powdered
metal of some type, is far to great. I'm also old enough to be used
to ignition lock cylinders lasting, if not the life of the vehicle at
least longer than 4.5 years in moderate use.

 

[Neil Nelson]

Thanks very much for the information.

My pleasure.

I run a manufacturing plant. I have a good approximation of what it
cost to make and I also know that the total margin and markup will net
a price at least ten times that.

I could stomach that (my company does the same thing) if it were not
for the inherently poor design. The hardness differential between the
pins and the rotating detent casting which appears to zinc or powdered
metal of some type, is far to great. I'm also old enough to be used
to ignition lock cylinders lasting, if not the life of the vehicle at
least longer than 4.5 years in moderate use.

I don't believe that yours is a typical example.
There really haven't been a lot of complaints in this or
other D-C oriented groups about ignition lock cylinder
failure. The basic design has been in use for 10 years or
so, my own personal experiences with a 95 and a 98 are not
similar to yours.
I have replaced them for customers, but at no where near the
level of (for instance) Ford products.

Sometimes things just break.

 

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

I could stomach that (my company does the same thing) if it were not
for the inherently poor design. The hardness differential between the
pins and the rotating detent casting which appears to zinc or powdered
metal of some type, is far to great. I'm also old enough to be used
to ignition lock cylinders lasting, if not the life of the vehicle at
least longer than 4.5 years in moderate use.

It could be that something in the spring loaded pins fractured and one
of the pins came out and got wedged in the cylinder, or some such.

Also they caution people against hanging heavy keychains off auto lock
cylinders. What's your keychain like?

The cylinder metal by the way is what they call "pot metal" in short, it's
all the scraps thrown into the pot. It's not known for particularly
uniform consistency. You might have just got a cylinder cast out of a bad
batch.

Ted

 

[mic canic]

yes you can at the dealer and it's not as high priced as you think
the coded tumblers can be swapped over real easy
how much stuff is on your keyring seems there is a issue with this on the
vans but no tsb issued

 

[mic canic]

sorry to inform ya neil i have replaced about 10 this year for the exact same
complaint all in the ns vans. all had lots of weight on the key chains

 

[Neil Nelson]

sorry to inform ya neil i have replaced about 10 this year for the exact same
complaint all in the ns vans. all had lots of weight on the key chains

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yeah, and?

Oversized, heavy, crap laden key chains aren't something new.

 

[Frank Boettcher]

For information of all who provided advice, a follow up:

The local dealer wanted $90 for the lock cylinder and would be glad to
put it in for another $90. I bought the lock cylinder from a local
locksmith, coded to my key set for $41 dollars. Put it in myself,
took about 20 minutes.

My wife does have a heavy key chain but not that heavy. Plus it
appears that the grooves that are worn into the "pot" metal rotating
cast piece are not from the weight of the chain but from the number of
cycles that it has been rotated. I still contend it is a bad design
to groove out that quickly.

Did I mention that this is the second lock set that has worn out on
this vehicle. First went about 2.5 years ago. I paid the dealers
prices for the replacement. That is what drove me to look for an
alternative this time.