Key wont come out of ignition

colin433, Mar 8, 3:24pm
we own a 2009 Mitsubishi Delica van which has give us good service till a month or so ago when the key started sticking, making it impossible to remove from the ignition.
We called a key service man who came out, took one look at it, and said it was the job of an auto electrician.
We located one, and visited him today, he said we needed to go to a key specialist. Seems we could be going round in circles.
Hubby seems incapable of getting it out, I have tried a few times after he's given up and it has come out. The Auto sparky we saw today had little trouble getting it out. He said hubby is not holding his mouth right!
He squirted some silicone into the ignition, it seems to have done little good.
A mechanic who we see occasionally said it could be something to do with the solenoid . that's over my head.
It started playing up a few months ago when we were using the original key with the remote on it. We disabled that key temporarily and began using the spare that came with the vehicle. All was well for a while, then it started to play up.
Does anyone have any ideas, have you come across this problem before.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, we're almost at the stage of leaving the key in the ignition with a blanket thrown over the steering wheel to hide the fact that the key is still in the lock.

kazbanz, Mar 8, 3:35pm
By Delica van do you mean the commercial van or a passenger van?
Im not trying to be nitpicky here its just it could be one of several vehicles.

Normally what you are describing is a job for a locksmith. Normally worn key/stuck lock wafers.
Is the key working fine in the door to open the vehicle?

intrade, Mar 8, 4:23pm
park neutral switch faulty could prevent release. i would hook up the obd2 scanner with mitsubishi oem level software and look what the state is for park neutral on or off then what ever else can be looked at. like a usb power bank in the lighter socket turning a old toyota in to acc would de4finet prevent key removal if the mitsi would also do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW8Q8_blNCs

colin433, Mar 8, 6:18pm
We always use the remote to open the doors, so I can't really answer this question, however, there was ONE occasion when we needed to use the key in the door lock, and it worked fine.

msigg, Mar 8, 6:59pm
While pulling the key out give the gear selector a wiggle and hold your foot on the brake peddle.

marte, Mar 8, 7:19pm
Push the barrel of the lock, down with a screwdriver while wiggling the key to pull it out. This worked for me on a key in somebody's car last week.

kazbanz, Mar 9, 1:11am
So delica d5?

blueviking, Mar 9, 6:47am
Does the button on the gear lever get stuck"in" when you put it in park. Happened in my old Volvo, so you had to flick the button out before being able to remove the key.

trade4us2, Mar 10, 4:55pm
Nobody seems to have mentioned wriggling the steering wheel while pulling the key out. So do that!

scuba, Mar 11, 7:34pm
I think the ignition barrel is full of the metal dust from wear on the key and tumblers.I never use fluids in key locks was taught to use graphite dust as fluids can cause things to get stickier. If you get it out again i would coat the key with graphite dust and pore some dust into the barrel. would maybe give the ignition barrel a blast with compressed air first if possible.

kazbanz, Mar 11, 11:10pm
no response from op so .

nzrose7, Mar 17, 11:25am
Pays to spray all keys especially those that are used on external locks, etc, house and car occasionally with WD40 or similar to stop them sticking. Better to spray keys where locks are connected electronically, house locks could be sprayed too.

saki, Mar 18, 2:25pm
No, get CRC lock and hinge spray.

gmphil, Mar 22, 11:04pm
never use fluid !
use graphite powder get at supercheap

macman26, Mar 23, 5:52pm
I see this is a bit contentious on what lube to use. Brass locks and pins normally use graphite. Other metal locks out the weather generally the same. Some locks with ferrous parts and outdoors you sometimes need to resort to CRC type sprays.

lythande1, Mar 23, 7:30pm
It's not an electrical issue.
I'd be getting a new ignition barrel installed.

bill1451, Aug 29, 11:40pm
Best suggestion yet, replace the ignition barrel and be done with it.