another ignition issue/wont turn off,key comes out

[ericb45696]

05 Ion. I've spent almost an hour searching and reading the various posts about this recurring issue.
finally happened to me yesterday. come home and the key wont turn the car off. it is locked in the "on" position.
called a local dealer and he wasn't any help.
i unplugged a connector under the hood to turn the car off and disconnected the battery to stop it from draining power .
this was before I had a chance to come here and I was frustrated at the time and didn't think about looking for the fusebox.

I tried to rehook everything and see if I couldn't get it to come out, but now the accelerator pedal wont even work?!?! ggrrrr!!

I guess my question is what are my best options?
the dealer quoted me $350 for the part and $100+ labor

and I'm assuming something I did is why the pedal wont work and hopefully if I take it to the dealer or another mechanic it will solve that issue and I didn't mess anything else up?

thanks.

[2006 ion2]

what connector did you pull to get the car to shut off?

to get the key out, there is a small access door under the steering column with a button in it, press and hold this button then turn the key. as far as the part, order it and look for one of the many how-tos on this forum on how to change it out. also, if your key is worn out, replace it with a new one cut from your vin at the dealer.

why your prdal isn't working depends on your answer to my first question.

[ericb45696]

hmm. it wont let me post an image I did to show where the connector I unplugged was. bummer.

and I tried taking the panels off the steering column and I saw that button and tried it. didn't let me turn the car off. the key comes out fine.

so if I order it from the dealer does $350 sound right?

[2006 ion2]

I've never ordered it before. all you should need is the ignition lock cylinder, and have them key it to your key. after you get one more post in, you will be allowed to post pictures.

[ericb45696]

thanks. I think I need to go talk to my dealer face to face.

[tylerkski]

I found that this is a fairly easy fix. Here's my story: about 9 Months ago, I too had my key get stuck in my ignition with car running on my 2006 Saturn Ion. I found that by taking the plastic off around the steering wheel I could unplug a green plug everytime I wanted to kill the engine. I did this for 9 months, Plugging and unplugging every time I wanted to start or kill my engine. However, I could start it with ANY key and I could pull the key out while it was running and it wouldn't turn off until I "unplugged" it.

The dealership cost to fix this was going to be a little over $400. Just last week I ended buying a new ignition lock cylinder from the dealership. The part was $74.00 and they charged me $20 to "key" it with existing key. $94.00. It took approximately 15-20 minutes to replace this piece (And I know NOTHING about cars).

A few things to know: In order to buy the ignition lock cylinder you have to show your i.d. matching the proof of registration on the vehicle that way they know you didn't steel the car and trying to set up your key with someone else's vehicle. Also, the dealership couldn't believe that I just wanted the part. They kept saying "you don't want us to install it?"

Obviously not, because they were going to charge me another $300+ to install it when it took 20 minutes for me to do.

If anyone has any questions about any of this, please email me at tylerkski@gmail.com. I would love to help and wish someone would have let me know all of this in the first place.

[2006 ion2]

you never asked, and the answer is all around this forum. it's actually been answered in this thread, by me.