Squint

Recently acquired a '98 XJ 4wd, spent all my spare time for last six weeks getting it in shape, runs perfect, gonna enjoy adding a lift kit soon; my son took it mudding Tuesday got stuck in a puddle deep enough to flood the drivers side floorboard halfway up speaker in driver's door, got pulled out and drove it home. we pulled the seats, console, door sills, etc rinsed carpet & cleaned it up, ran fine sitting in driveway with console out, never drove it now two days later the ignition key will not turn. checked shifter "Oh great, when I reinstalled the console I left it in Drive, shifted to park OK, still nothing, thought it might be the Neutral Safety Switch got flooded, just so happen to have a spare one available that works on my other XJ, plugged it in and rotated full CW then CCW searching for Park, but still no ignition key turn, now the shifter is locked in Park, 4WD shifter will move to all positions, key no turn - will not move to ACC or anywhere clockwise, steering wheel will rotate no problem, I'm gonna have a couple beers and ask for y'alls advice...about the Jeep. My son leaves for USMC boot camp in May...oooorah!

dzywicki

If water got into the ignition cylinder it may have removed some lubricant in the cylinder. Whack the key on the end with your fist or a hammer a few times and see if it turns. The tumblers and springs wear after awhile and you have to persuade them into place. If it does, I'd replace the the lock cylinder. You can get an ignition cylinder off of Amazon for $50 ( ). They can be altered to match the cylinder of your original so you can use the same key. Plenty of youtube videos out there. I had to do this on my 98 and took ~10 minutes to change the keying for the replacement cylinder.

Squint

Thanks for the info, FYI went out to roll garbage can to the street for pickup tomorrow AM, decided to give it one more try for fun and of course - it started! I might have to go the cylinder replacement route to be safe. Also, I was wondering if was a logic issue ie: shifter in R or D position, brake not depressed, this makes me nervous to take it out on a trail and stop to enjoy the view, might not start afterward.Thanks again!

dzywicki

There is no electronic "logic" between the shifter and the ignition cylinder. It's a cable connection. If you want to see it, whack the underside of the shifter real hard and it will pop off. You will then see the **** beads(https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/aw4...nition-246917/) that are connected to the shifter button. The shifter button presses on those and it controls a pin in the ignition cylinder. When the cylinder starts wearing, you'll get what you found. Just remember that if it won't turn, whack the end and it will make the tumblers drop into place so you can turn it.

BigNuge

You might want to pause on your thought about sending it out with a teenager that’s going to drive it through a pond....I’d start there.

A nice crawl in the woods, on a rail trail, mixed with an occasional mud/rock navigation is not cause for concern. Try lubricating the cylinder (lightly) with some 3in1 dribbled on the key (lightly). Run the key in and out a few times. If it still seems “sticky”, replace the cylinder. The pins have likely worn, and the cylinder is beginning not to actuate/unlock properly.