Question on my car

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-17-2015, 02:36 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: If it's completely dead on the first attempt (no dashboard lights--nothing), then it's probably the ignition switch.

The ignition switch is mounted on the steering column, underneath the kick plate. It has brass connections that are made when you rotate the key cylinder and allows electricity to flow to different parts of the vehicle.
http://www.autozone.com/1/categories/chevrolet-malibu-ignition-switches

If you do get lights on the dash when you turn the key but it just won't crank, it could be--but probably isn't--still a bad connection in the ignition switch. It could be a passlock issue. The passlock is a passive anti-theft system. There is a small magnet embedded in the key cylinder and when you turn the key, the magnet lines up with a relay that allows the vehichle to start (i won't go into what all it does as it's not really necessary). To correct a passlock problem, get in the car and make sure all your doors are closed. Turn your key to the accessory position so that dash lights are on, but not far enough to start the vehicle. You have to sit in the car with the doors closed and the key in the accessory position for approximately 10 minutes. The security light should be illuminated while you're sitting there. After 10 minutes, the security light will go off (by security light i mean--it could be the word "security" or it could be an icon that looks like a padlock). After approximately 10 minutes, when the security light goes off, turn the key off and take it out of the cylinder. Wait 30 seconds then try to start the car.

If neither of these things correct the problem, you probably have another electrical issue in the car. You can take it to the nearest AutoZone and they will connect a tester to your OBD port to see if there are any fault codes.

Here's a nice little picture of my car, a couple months ago, when i replaced the turn signal switch. It looked exactly the same way when i replaced the ignition switch a couple years ago. 



The ignition switch is circled in red, below.

Fun times....I had to pull the entire steering column on my wife's VW to replace the ignition switch.  VW (in the Mark III Jetta anyway) put it all together in one piece with the actual cylinder.  Then, they ran every accessory through that switch (which continued at least through the Mark IV Jetta).  It was kind of a pain, but kind of ingenious.  As the switch degrades, you begin losing accessories, but the car will still run.  As voltage breaks down across the circuit, the CPU shuts off accessories one by one, from least important to vital, to keep the car running/starting.  Pretty clever.  Of course, it took me a day or two to figure out why my wipers and radiator fans just shut off for no reason, and I had ran hot wires to the fuse panel to run them.   The most interesting part?  To self diag the problem, you turned on all of the accessories that had failed (a/c, vent blower, wipers, radiator fans, etc), and then pulled the bright switch in and......voila, they all start working....you now know you have a bad ignition switch in a Volkswagen Jetta.


The issue was, that in the Mark III, the ignition cylinder was held in place with a tiny set screw that required a jeweler's sized screwdriver to remove.  The only way to gain access was to remove the steering column and turn the whole thing upside down and access it that way.  It was corrected on the Mark IV by running a harness from the cylinder to the switch itself and placing the switch on the underside of the column.  All you had to do then was remove the plastic trim covering it.  I have some pics on my phone, I'll try to upload 'em later.  Love talking cars....lol.