1998 GMC Savana Logo
Posted on Apr 23, 2009

Steering wheel lock stuck, key won't turn

My 740 wagon has has a lot of problems but this one gets the prize. I was driving as usual and parked the car, shut it off, and went inside for a while. Came back out an hour later to drive home and the key won't even pretend to turn now and the steering wheel is locked. It has an anti-theft device on it that I've always been able to get past- turn the key while rocking the wheel, but now my car is stuck on the other side of town. A friend of mine who thought he could help couldn't figure it out. Why does my key not work anymore and the wheel won't turn at all? GMC Savana... same problem... but it seems as thought the wheel locks/anti theft thing is broken or something. I can gently force the wheel past the lock position by turning either way... but the key still won't turn. Talk about an annoying problem... Just put 1500 into the thing and now this??!!?

think I'm gonna try again in the morning but keep turning the wheel into the curb to the right and keep trying to turn the key.

The thing is... over the 5 times that I started my vehicle... this problem slowly got worse and worse. first it took me 2 or 3 minutes to get it turning... and then at the end of the day it was more like 10 mins (my thumb was sore) and now it ain't turning at all.

I'm thinking about ripping out those wires and installing a push button start ... any ideas?

  • jeffsheard Apr 24, 2009

    is there anyway I could do this myself? I actually got the thing started today. after a few sessions of cranking the wheel and turning the key it turned over. so I drove it to work and back without taking it completly out of "key in" mode.



    If I get the right screw drivers to open the casing is this something I could reasonably do myself? I mean I don't know cars that well... but I'm not an idiot when it comes to mechanics.

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  • Posted on Jul 12, 2009
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Dude, just take a rubber mallet and hit the key moderately. This will fix the problem. I had the same thing go wrong with my van.

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  • Posted on Apr 23, 2009
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The tumbler is connected to a lock inside the steering column. the pins inside the tumbler have come loose resulting in the key not turning and then the steering wheel locked itself in the column. You need to have the vehicle towed somewhere where you can replace the ignition switch(key and lock). This will fix your problem.

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