Alright, this one has me stumped. I have a 93 touring edition that i bought a year ago. When i bought it, it only had one key, that was slightly bent. i finally got around to getting the key copied today. Now get this, after a little jiggle in the door handle, the key unlocked the doors and i figured i was set. i go to start the car and it wont turn. i jiggled it a little more, and it starts right up, no problem. i figure, new key, must need a little time. So the car is started up and i notice that my e-brake light is on. The e-brake light in my car has never worked. i take the e-brake down and the light stays on. I say, whatever, at least the car started. Here's the tough part though. When the new key is in, the car drives perfectly and it sounds perfect, but the radio console wont work. The clock that is on all the time is on, and it works, but i cant turn on the radio or play a cd. Also, i have a radar detector plugged into the cigarette lighter which wont turn on. Now this stumped me. by the way, when i put the old key in, everything works fine again, except that the e-brake light is never on. any clues on what to do?

 

how long has the old key been bent? maybe the locks are so bad that an unbent key either goes past the "on" position or not far enough. actually its hard to copy a bent key, you should go to the dealer and have them cut one from the vin number

mike

 

Thanks, i'll give that a shot. it has been a little bit bent since i got the car a little over a year ago. it isnt that bent, just slightly, i was just afraid it might crack. thanks for that though, i will see if that works

 

how much does it cost to get a key cut by the vin number? all i have are copies of keys as thats all the previous owner had....man id love a real key.
-stephen

 

I'm not sure how much it costs to do it by the vin number. its probably like $7. it cant be that expensive anyway. i am going to look into it though to see if that fixes my little problem

 

list price on a factory key blank is like $7-12, the knock off ones are like $5

mike

 

perhaps using the new key triggers part of the security system?

 

Whoa, good call. i didnt think of that. that may actually be what its doing. the only problem is that the car starts and runs fine, its just some things dont work, but i guess that could be a feature of the alarm.

 

Unless you have some super-fancy aftermarket alarm, i'm gonna have to go with no. I think the bent key bent the contacts in the key cylinder over time and now the contacts for accessory are bent to the point that only a bent key will make contact to turn on.
~Tom

 

The key cylinder is REALLY easy - all the key does when inserted is let the cylinder turn - that's it.

With the jiggling process, you might not have the cylinder turned properly, and it's causing a voltage drop.

There's no security feature on the keys like some newer cars have - it's just a stick of metal with a funny shape.

Dale