Town & Country 99 Mini Van Key couldn't start the ignition?????

Okay, this is frustrating. I really need a lot of help from different
viewer. This happened to me before and it happened again.
When I put my key into the mini van, I couldn't turn my key at all to
start my van. It was like I was using the wrong key. I couldn't turn my
key and of course and ignition wouldn't start.
This happened to me before but the problem went away after we tried to
insert the key to the mini van a few times.
But this time, nothing seems to work. I have tried to put the key in so
many times, tried to turn the wheels, tried to wiggle the park gear and
step on the brake and nothing works!!!!!
I had called my dealership about this problem and they seemed to have no
clue about it.
Please give me some advise as in what I should do. I really don't want to
spend money on towing my van to the dealer and have them look at it.
Thanks!

 

The key cylinder is no good, your dealer is aware of this because we are
constantly replacing them for this problem, take and tap on the key with a
metal object or something solid (as you were trying to make it go further
in) as you are turning it and it will turn, Have the key cylinder replaced
and recoded.
Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Maxpower's directions and advice are excellent. This has happened twice on
our 1999 T&C. The first time was under warranty and towed to the dealer who
replaced the cylinder. The second time was a year or so ago and I removed
the cylinder and lubricated it with graphite and oil. It lasted about a
year and began to do the same thing, so I sent my key to a web dealer who
rekeyed a cylinder for me ($25 fee plus parts) and mailed the assembly back
which I put into the van. This was about half the price at the local dealer
and the task is pretty simple. It only took about 15 minutes to remove the
column shroud and get at the cylinder.

Good luck. Dealer indicated the new cylinder is an improved design.

Bob

 

Sorry that I have to ask a stupid question, what is the key cylinder? is
it where I insert my key? My husband tried to follow your instruction and
tap on the key. He was able to turn the key to where the radio was on.
Then he couldn't turn it any further.
I got this mini van from Ebay through a dealer. I am wondering how I can
find out if it is still under warrantee (I guess it should not be under
any warantee)? Do you know how much the dealer will charge for changing
the Cylinder? Bob(another person who replied to my posting) said he
changed it himself and it was easy to do. Do you think I can do it too?
My husband and I had no experience fixing cars. Thanks.

 

It costed me over 300 dollars to have my lock cylinder replaced.It took
the dealer tech over 3 hours to fix it.Main problem was my steering
wheel was locked.So dealer told me the steering wheel had to be unlocked
to remove the old lock cylinder.Thats when he told me it could cost me
over 400 bucks more because they may have to break the steering column
and replace it.But some how they found away to remove the lock cylinder
without breaking the column.By the way my car is a 2000 dodge stratus
se.

 

The warranty on that van is 3/36 you have no warranty, yes it can be
replaced easy but you should use new Key wafers/tumblers. And since you have
no idea what/where the cylinder is, I recommend having the dealer do it.
cost maybe $150.00?

 

Same thing, tap on the key as you want to make it go in further and turn at
the same time, that will release it and allow it to turn, 400$ sounds
ridiculous

 

I agree $400 is high, but my local dealer wanted over $300 when I called to
inquire on the price over the phone. As I mentioned earlier, I found a
dealer on the web who was willing to send me the re-keyed cylinder for $109
total. This included the replacement cylinder, new key tumblers, springs,
and $25 labor for keying, plus a few dollars for shipping. Installation was
very easy, especially since I'd had the cylinder out on at least tow
previous occasions to buy me an extra year of use before I finally bit the
bullet and replaced the ignition lock.

The only down side was I had to wait about 8 days if memory serves me right
for them to receive my key and ship me the re-keyed cylinder. The interval
was not an issue for us since it was only getting stuck every 10th or 20th
start (not every time) and we knew the trick on how to "coerce" the key in a
little bit more to make it turn.

Bob

 

You had to ship them a key to code the cylinder? that's odd, Normally all
they need to do is get the vin number and code it off of that. But that
sounds like a reasonable price for the part

 

Yes, I could have just given the VIN, but they suggested I send them the key
since that way they could guarantee 100% that the cylinder was keyed
correctly. I thought this was a good idea, and I trusted the parts guy who
I've been dealing with for many years now. I also thought the price was
reasonable given the alternative.

Another option here is to purchase the blank cylinder and then have a good
local locksmith do the keying for you using a key as well.

Bob

 

Good luck with that, I have yet to find a local locksmith willing to
rekey automotive locks on a onesie-twosie basis, especially for older
cars.

On the upside, I've found a guy through a car club I belong to who is
in Missouri that will do it; I just sent him a glovebox lock to make a
key for and a door lock to rekey to my key. Total cost $25 including a
couple extra ignition blanks for old Studebakers (I can't find those
locally either) and return shipping to me plus maybe $2 to ship the
stuff to him. Can't beat that with a stick.

nate

 

not really, i just had to replace a column because they could not get the key
out of the ignition
the shift interlock linkage was broke and it can only be had with the column
cost of column 717.00 dollars
out of warranty but d.c was nice to them and covered it