VATS and ignition cylinder question

[8cam]

I have not had one problem with my PASSkey (knock on wood) but this weekend my daughter was driving the car and had a problem with it several times. The tumblers in my ignition lock are extremely stiff, and the key requires a good amount of force to push in and remove. I just think she wasn't getting the key in all the way, resulting in a 4 minute wait before I could start the car. I told her she needs to work out more.

Is this normal for these ignition cylinders? In my old cars I would use a bit of graphite, but I'm not sure how/if this might affect the PASSkey system. I'm tempted to bypass it, but I really prefer to have original systems working like they are supposed to. Except for CAGS, which is just stupid.

[Tyler Townsley]

Use some lock lubricant. Mine was so stiff that I thought I was going to have to replace the ignition. Sprayed it liberally with the lube and it freed up.

Tyler

[WVZR-1]

I've used contact cleaner for stiff cylinders but after completing the clean use only lock cylinder graphite lube. No substitutes. Don't even think of using anything else.

With age and use if you get to where it becomes very difficult to rotate back to off or to turn to crank a replacement is generally the only fix.

I'd try the dry lubricant first unless it's a real high miler.

[LGAFF]

Is she pushing the release button for the key when she pulls it out?

[Schrade]

Pocket jam on the key chip can cause problems. I don't know what girly makeup jam on the key can do - I usually try to go lite on the makeup when I drive... http://www.zr1.net/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[We Gone]

My wife's 95 LT1 started having issues at about 200k miles I finally just gave up and spliced in a resistor of the right ohms to match the pellet under the column... no more vats :-D

[8cam]

Rotating the cylinder isn't the problem, it's very easy to turn either direction once the key is in. It's actually inserting and removing the key that's difficult, and yes she was pushing the release button. :) There's no residue on the key and nothing I can see in the lock, but it's like the tumblers are lubed with molasses. I'll try a little graphite this evening and see if it helps. I just didn't want to foul the system if it might cause a problem.