Thread: WTF did I do????

Ok, I did a lil searching. Frustrating trying to keep my search criteria detailed but short as to not get a bunch of random crap. Gotta love google. I found out its called DIC (driver info center). That found me a few helpful results. Apparently GM's ignition switches are notorious for going bad. I guess they tend to jam and not let the key out and I guess after a while they dont let enough voltage through. My key WAS stuck when I bought the car. I tried to remove the top steering column cover to allow more room for the dash trim to fit through and get an idea why the tumbler was jammed. While I had the bottom off(top was too much of a pain), I just gently squizd the trim betwwen the dash and column). Anyway, I noticed a large pin that if you push-in, allows the tumbler to roll back. Looking at the bottom of the cover there was a large hole. Where what looked like should have been some kind of release/lock mechanism for the ignition. So I just ran a zip tie around it so that the pin is always in. Might this be my problem, or something ignition switch related being that I had the column apart. I didn't disconnect anything, I just removed the cover and zip tied the pin. Is it just a simple switch I can replace or do I have to replace the entire ignition, tumbler and all?

Thanks for any help.

I also found out that the blower (HVAC) wont work on certain speeds(or all) when the ign switch fails or starts to. Mine still works, for now. One thing I did notice was when the ignition was in run position (car off) the tack needle will jump ever so slightly (100rpm) every sec consecutively. I didnt notice that b4 either. Than again I havnt had the car for more than a week. Everything still so new to me, but the radio had to go lol. I wish I hadnt done that now. Only electrical problem it had that I was aware of was the ds window regulator, window goes up crooked and falls out of the channel/seal the last 6-8 inches b4 its up all the way. Some one going to tell me thats comon too. What else is commonly falls apart or fails on GP's. I'm starting to miss my 89 taurus , thats bad. Really bad...