I bought a wrecked 1999 Civic EX. Getting it all back together, and I am having problems with the ignition switch. If the battery is hooked up when you push in the key to rotate it to the off position you can heara click of a lock pinin the column that prevents the key from turning back. What causes it to lock to prevent turning the key back?

Hopefully this makes sense.
Thanks

 

I'll say from the outset that I don't have a solution to your problem, just some very rough ideas.

Maybe you should remove the steering column covers to allow you to see both the ignition switch and wheel lock while the problem is occurring.

I don't know whether they will help, but the picture below mentions that the ignition switch and wheel lock must be properly aligned.

A picture in the next post shows how to replace the ignition switch, if necessary.

[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/138E7849A1E0439AAA7949A3A5A3D532.jpg[/IMG]

 

last picture...



[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/141E797123394777A047AD90203FCFFA.jpg[/IMG]

 

hes basicaly got you covered, Good luck with it sounds like a pretty damn weird problem

 

It must be automatic. There is a system which requires it to be in park before you can take the key out. I think it is driven by a switch on the shift lever.