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Quoting No_more_Dodge  "Contact the Department of Transportation Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 and tell them about this problem"  

All I can say is THANK GOD for the internet.  Last Friday I get a call at work.  Our 5 year old son pulled the keys out of the ignition of our 2002 Dodge Grand Caravn, waiting at our daughters school.  My wife, a 2 friends couldn't figure out the issue.

The Steering wheel moved, but the ignition was locked.  I run home early and couldn't figure it out.  Jumped on the net and found several posts about this issue.  I'm thinking....a rubber mallet?  I told my wife to hit it with a shoe a few times...nothing  

Well she took my car to celebrate our daughters 10th birthday with some friends.  So I was stuck....calling places at 6pm at night about getting it towed and repaired.  EVERYONE was closed of course.  So I called the cops and let them know the van would be stranded on the shoulder by the local school.  I read through more and more of these posts.  

The next morning I dug through the camping supplies to find the mallet.  Drive over to the van and try one more time.  NOTHING....though okay here it goes... Grabbed the key...wacked it with the mallet.... held my breath...and the #@$# turned over.  I thought....SON OF A BIT*H... IT WORKS!!!!  We were suppose to drive to my mother in laws 1 1/2 hours away that morning.  So I called my wife 5 minutes after leaving home "Lets get going to your moms".  She couldn't believe it worked either.

Blogging has saved me so much money with our van...This incident, and twice with the voltage regulatory for our fan (it would only work on high).

Thank you everyone for posting your issues and fixes.  I do feel bad for the local mechanic though..... They don't get as much of my business these days  

Here's another person to add to this thread.  

I have a 2004 Dodge Dakota quad cab.   Haven't had any problems with it until Saturday afternoon.  About half an hour before I was due to be at the airport to pick up my mother, I loaded up my kid in the car, put the key in the ignition, and it wouldn't turn.  Great.  It freaked me out, apparently too much, as my three year old started crying too ("Daddy, I'm crying for you!")  That issue aside..

Tried both mine and my wife's keys, no luck -wouldn't turn.  The steering wheel WOULD turn, however.  Tried the usual jiggle of the wheel and the key, no luck.  In trying to do this, I did now manage to get the wheel locked all the way to one side.  It was't when this started, so now the key and the wheel were locked (where they were not at the start).

Got my mom picked up due to some friends who loaned me a car.  Got home later that evening, tried a few more times, no luck.  Another friend of mine who I called during my panic had decided to look online, and found this thread for me.  From this thread (and one other), he suggested I take a can of compressed air, and blow out the keyhole, which I did.  No luck.   Then I left my key in the ignition, and hit it with my shoe a few times.  That DID work.  It unlocked, and all is well again.

What boggles me is that my $10 pair of sneakers from Wal-Mart was the thing that fixed the lock.

Of course the problem now becomes will it happen again?  What I'm wondering here is do I have the same chance of this happening a second time as someone have it happen for the first time?   I called my dealership, and they listened to the story.  The guy said "Well, if it were still locked, we might be able to find something, but with it fixed, we may not be able to do much".   Not the answer I wanted, but It sort of makes sense.   If I take my Dakota in to have them look at it, am I just flushing my money down the toilet, or is there some worth in having the dealer look at it?  

2001 Dodge caravan, same problem with the locked key in the ignition.  Thanks to this forum, I am another satisfied mallet user. Satisfied that I don't have an urgent repair bill, that is, as I am still calling the Department of Transportation Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236.  Thanks to all!  

I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty. My wife called and said the key wouldn't turn in the ignition. I attributed it to operator error until I drove an hour to where she left it and found I couldn't turn the key as well!

I went home thinking the worst and how I would deal with it in the morning. I did a quick keyword search just to see if anyone may have had a similar problem. "jeep liberty key won't turn" now here I am - I read through the thread and happily returned to the scene with a blunt object.
To my JOY my Jeep started right up.

Now, it still happens intermittently. What I do is get the key just lined up with the opening of the ignition and give it a quick shove in the hole. That works every time.

I'm going to explore a class action suite as well as call all parties concerned.

Thanks for the tip!  

Thank-you, thank-you.

Went to start my 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan today. The ignition tumbler has been loose lately and I found out couple weeks ago, I can pull the key out while driving. This van is just amusing with all the problems I have had, brakes, tires aside but the old serpentine belt and now this. Well, called local dealer, wanted $ 120.00 to tow and probably $ 300-400 for new ignition lock. Guess what, borrowed neighbor's RUBBER MALLET, she is not getting it back until I buy a new one. Hit it a few times and turned the wheel---wa-la. No more swearing and back to driving this. PS---Last Dodge I will purchase. Like my neighbor says, dodge it and buy something else.  

Hi, I see all these replies saying that "the rubber mallet" trick worked for them, but I can't find the original posting that tells how to perform the 'trick" Our Dodge van key won't turn. HELP!  

I HAVE ALL OF THOSE PROBLEMS...  can you tell me... did you find out what all of the problems are?  Right now.. my key... broke off in the ignition... no ac ... no radio... unless it feels like it... the locksmith i contacted wants 225.  minus $100 that AAA will pay..      

I have a 99 Grand Caravan. Only problem in three years was a trasmission sending unit that went out two years ago. Friday I drive to work no problem, come out to go home and surprise key won't turn, jiggle wheel back and forth nothing. I left it set all weekend in the parking lot at work. Finally after getting mad all weekend because no one had a idea what might be wrong I went online and found this thread. After work today a co worker tried his luck in trying to get it to turn, then he took a mallet and tapped the key a couple times and presso it worked. My friend went to school to be a locksmith and he told me to get some powdered graphite  to put in the ingnition.
I drove around all afternoon no problem. A little 1.00 mallet to repair it and a weekend of anger.
My husband and I are now going to carry a mallet in the van and his truck at all times. This problem is in any dodge I'm told and it isn't a recall because the dealer says it's not a safety issue.  

What you do is put the key in and and tap the head of the key with a firm tap a couple of times, then try to turn it. If it won't turn try again with just a little harder tap. It really works. I just found out myself today. I have a friend that went to school to be a locksmith and he said to get powder graphnite and put it on the key and then put the key in the ingnition and turn it a couple of times to work the graphnite in. Do this after you do the mamallet trick and you get the key to turn. Never use WD-40 it will eat the parts inside the ingnition.  

I just added a $3.99 rubber mallet to the tool kit in my 2005 Grand Caravan.

Just as failed components in the power train don't fail until after the power train warranty expires, it seems this mysterious ignition lock failure only happens when it is pouring down rain, you have your wife & kids in the van, and are supposed to be on the way to your son's first Cub Scout meeting.

2005 Grand Caravan loaded with all of Dodge's overpriced bells & whistles: $31,000

Cub Scout dues: $30.00

Rubber Mallet: $3.99

Internet Blog to find problem: zero dollars

Never buying another Chrysler product ever again: PRICELESS.

DD  

I have a 1997 Plymouth Voyager and had a similar problem as posted here. No key turn, out of the blue. Tried the simple solution suggested here on several different posts: softly hitting the end of the key while in the ignition. Some posters suggested a rubber mallet or the rubber end of a screwdriver or the wooden end of a hammer. I just tapped it with the bottom of my sandal and it worked perfectly. Sometimes I have that problem and sometimes I do not and I still don't know what causes it, but tapping the key with something seems to fix the problem and it is a lot cheaper and simpler than calling a locksmith, changing the lock cylinder, filing the key or getting a brand new key from the manufacturer.  

The mallet worked for us too on our 99 Plymouth Grand Voyager! Thanks so much for posting this little trick. While I know it deosn't "fix" the problem, it certinly saves on alot of towing costs!  

My father has a 1999 Dodge Voyager and the same problem JUST happened to me. In a frantic internet search I brought up this page and another page which suggested something else. (Un?)Fortunately I didn't skim through this page, and tried to trick that the other one suggested.

It said to merely turn the wheel and key at the same time. It is something about anti-theft, if someone is attempting to hotwire your car, the steering wheel will lock up. The problem, for me, was caused by moving the steering wheel with the key out of the ignition. So I did, I turned the key and steering wheel at the same time and just popped right back into place.

So perhaps, next time you come across this problem again you should try that trick instead of a rubber mallet or shoe or whatever because those tricks may not even work. It may be you leaning slightly on the steering wheel while you touch the key that makes it pop back into place. I'm not sure hitting ANYTHING is good for the car, haha.  

I have a 2000 Dodge Caravan Sport and recently the ignition has begun to stick.  Today my husband was stranded on the wrong side of town for two hours in the pouring rain with the windows down while it turned from twilight to pitch black.  Unfortunately here in Michigan, not too many locksmiths know about the problem and only a few emergency road side assistance companies are willing to help with that problem, for a small fee of $160.00.  (I know, I know small is definatly the wrong word.)  Oh, and I had to pay another fee to have it towed to my house which was $60.00.  Hopefully, after having the situation fixed, I will never have to deal with it again.  So anybody else thinking legal help here?

Thanks for reading my rants,

Nancy