esriderok

I am new to the LS1Tech Forum. I have three Firebirds (2000, 2001 WS6, 2002 Firehawk) that I bought new from the local dealer. I have had great performance from these cars. Raised three kids thru high school and college with these cars and never have had any major problems. The WS6 was involved in heavy damge front driver side accident about 6 years ago. No airbags deployed. Rebuilt with OEM parts. This is the dilemma. This past weekend, the 2001 WS6 will not shut off even with the key is removed. Indications of a problem started when the radio would not shut off after the key ignition switch was turned off, even after opening the driver door. It was occasional but became more frequent the last couple of weeks. Then the next indication the car would not shut off after turning the ignition switch off and removing the key. Then the most alarming thing occurred when the car while running with the key removed, the engine would increase, by itself, to 2500-3000 rpm! That is a shocking moment! The only way I deduced to shut the car down was to remove the fuel pump fuse. I did install a new key ignition switch a year ago. After this incident, I did so again this weekend assuming that was the problem. There was a severely compromised white wire from the switch as typical for these steering columns but did not last anywhere near the original switch for nearly 14 years. The parts supplier warrantied the switch. To no avail, the car powers up without a key and barely idles 300-500 rpm without pedal pressure. This well beyond my expertise. If there is a link or thread on this forum regarding this phenomenon, please post! I have searched the form and could not locate any similar posts. Please understand if I have not used the forum properly to locate such a previous posts for this issue. This site is some overwhelming the first go 'round! I am asking for assistance if anyone has experienced such a problem! Thanks!

esriderok

I was sure hoping that I could have seen an experienced response on this forum for a sooner resolution and many wasted hours. My back was about to give out, too. However, after 3 weeks of research, trial and error, talking with several car mechanics and plain ol' contorting under the dash, I was able to deduce and repair the problem. In a nut shell, replaced the steering column with an original GM piece and voila! The original steering column pivot pins for the tilt wheel and front column bearings had worn out so bad that the ignition rack was not consistently moving correctly to engage the ignition lever to the ignition switch properly depending on the tilt angle. Thereby, getting that weird car still running after taking the key out that no body seems to have ever heard about. But thanks for all the views! I bet there is someone dealing with this crazy problem! If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Mappinsj

I also have never heard of that before

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Sorry - I saw your post and wasn't able to post as I was working 110 hour weeks at the time. As you pointed out, this one requires some research...


The answers are in this document, but I think the solution is where you ended up: http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ck_Rebuild.pdf (We've also posted this in other threads regarding rebuilding the column.) Even with this, it would be a good bit of work to tear the column apart to find the problem. (See last page.) There are a lot of linkages gears, pushrods, etc. that work to get the action from the key cylinder to the actual isnition switch at the base of the column. (That switch also needs some adjustmnet.) Your crash could have broken or bent or moved any one of the 20 components along this chain. Replacing the steering column is probably your most reliable long-term solution.


A new steering column probably won't solve this! There's nothing in the steering column that would control acceleration unless you also had some kind of bizzare cruise control problem that happened to hit at the same time as the shut-off problem. This may be something you want to keep watching.