The other day I noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to turn the key to start my 94 Z. By this morning, it wouldn't turn at all and I couldn't start the car. I've run into this problem before about 5 years ago. The last time, the local chevy dealer replaced the key lock cylinder and that seemed to do the trick. So I figured that was the case again. But after I had taken off the airbag, steering wheel, turn signal assembly, etc. I decided to try turning the key again just to see if the cylinder was still stuck. Well, now the key turned just like it's supposed to. So I hooked the battery back up and I was able to start the car. However, the car now stumbles during start-up and I have to give it gas to keep it running. After a couple seconds it idles fine on it's own.

So my question is do I have a problem with the key lock cylinder or is the ignition switch causing my problems (key hard to turn, stumble at start-up). Or could it be that both are going bad at the same time? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

All they key cylinder does (besides having the contacts to read the VATS pellet) is remotely actuate the ignition switch that is on the lower part of the column. To prove which one is hanging up, you would need to isolate one from the other and operate each separately. There is also a sector mechanism that transfers the movement of the key to the rod that goes down to the ignition switch.