The other day I went to turn the car on. I put the key in the ignition, and it would not turn. I used both hands and tried to turn it as hard as I could, and I finally heard a snap and the key turned. Now, if I turn the key too far the guage lights go off and the car stops turning over. There is a sweet spot that will start the car, but once I turn the key too far the car stops turning over. Anyone have any ideas?

 

could be a few different things......i have had this problem before and its a very common for camaro/ta....you could try getting a new key cut down at chevrolet..the little chip in your key could have gone bad and when you try to start it it goes in to lock mode....which is the computer thinks sombodie is trying to steel the car and it throughs the security code......i paid 40 dollars for a new key and went to try it and it did not work...made it worse.....the other problem could be the ignition system you might have a few of the angle wire shorting out and sometimes it hits it and sometimes it doesnt.....if you want to spend 40 dolaars for a new key go ahead...it might work....but i would just get a new ignition and you will get two new keys with it......oh yeah......new ignition is only 120 bucks or so.....

 

I had to locker cylinder go bad on me. It was like $500 to get fixed including 2 new keys. Ugh.

 

Sounds like a lock cylinder to me, if the VATS resistor was going bad the car would not start or the security light would come on. It would not cause the ignition to stick or become harder to turn the key like you described.

 

Could be the key cylinder, ignition switch or maybe now the switch actuator sector (the lever/gear assy that allows the key cylinder to operate the switch), since you applied so much force to it. I would put my money on ignition switch as they are the most common point of failure. A guide for replacement can be found on my Tech Page.

 

are you sure its not the shift lock release solinoid. mine got gummed up from ashes falling from the ash tray and gumming up the linkage. i spayed some WD40 on it and hit the brakes and pushed the shifter button and it fixed my key problem