'94 Century ignition stuck in "on." Please help?

Hello...Can someone please advise me on this?

My '94 Buick Century has about 268,000 miles on it. It has the smaller of the two possible engines; not the 3.8 but the (I think) 3.2. I just took it in to have the air conditioner recharged. It's also running a little hot, but I wanted to have the ac fixed first so I don't die in the Arizona heat. None of that is the current crisis though. When I went to pick the car up, the mechanics were all gathered around and told me the ignition was stuck in the "on" position with the key in it. They said it's "a common problem with GM vehicles." They also said it's nothing they did.

My questions are:

1. Is this common on GM's and/or on this model of Buick?

2. If there were no signs of sticking before, is it possible that this is a problem caused by their carelessness, or even just a scam to get more money out of me (not that I'm aching to find out that's the case).

3. Anyone have an idea of what fixing this should entail and what does it *usually* cost to fix?

Thanks for reading and for any help you can offer. I am utterly desperate.

I had this happen on my LeSabre (should be the same standard GM column setup though). Basically, My ignition lock cylander has a small spring mechanism on it that got bent enough that it wouldn't spin. I managed to manhandle the entire switch with a pair of channel locks enough to get the car off and on (but the key would stay stuck).

To fix, I just replaced the lock cylander (~$15): Remove steering wheel via puller, remove turn signal cam via 4 screws, remove lock plate via lock plate compressor, and remove torx bolt holding ignition switch in.

I don't know how common this problem is, but it does happen and I doubt it is a scam...although they could have been rough on the switch..but again, it would have gone out on you sooner or later too.

Hi Alibi,

Thanks very much for your reply! Actually, it's looking like my fears were unfounded. The people at the garage decided that, since it happened while they had it, they would replace the switch free of charge.

I had a LeSabre too. Another awesome car.

Thanks again,
Kathy

Interesting. A new switch isn't too expensive so they probably figured the 20 minutes of labor to put one in plus the cost of the switch was worth the happy customer along with th possibility that said happy customer would refer friends or come back in the future. Win-win situation either way :)