One moment the car is fine. Then you go out at night and get stranded when the key will go in the ignition but won't turn. After 20 minutes of turning and jiggling and fussing it worked fine.I go on line and find that this is a common problem with older Honda Pilots. The dealer will fix it for $650. I sprayed some WD-40 in the ignition and it is coming out on the key like old dirty oil. Something must be made of substandard metal and is wearing off with the friction. Sounds like a faulty part to me. Will be searching a less expensive repair option as quickly as possible.

My key would not go in ignition and I could wiggle it to work every now and then. However, I continued to get stuck places and I have three small children. This was not good. The Honda dealer told me he could cut new keys and this should work. I paid 200.00 for 2 new keys and it only worked for about 3 weeks and then started getting stuck again. I have been stranded at my work place, at Wal-Mart, and other various places due to this occuring.

Update from Aug 31, 2015: My key continues to get stuck and not turn in my Pilot. I am told that I need to replace the entire ignition switch and system and then get new keys cut. This has been totaled to cost around 800.00 by Honda dealer and $600 by local mechanic. I was informed that this could occur again even after being fixed and is a common problem in the Honda Pilot.

The problem started like others have mentioned, which is having difficulty in getting the key in and out of the ignition. Eventually, it went in and I am still able to start/stop the engine but the key would not come out. At that time, (2009), they quoted about $800 ($700 USD) to fix it. It has been in the ignition for the last 6 years and about 100,000 km, (60,000 mi).

I took the vehicle in on (June 23, 2015), to have the ignition "interlock lever" recall, (campaign code of L65, from bulletin # J-5-13 on Feb 7, 2013), work done, hoping that the recall was all about or directly related to this this key stuck problem. They called me in the afternoon to say that they could NOT do the "interlock Lever" repair work because the key is stuck in the ignition and they are unable to remove the key. They quoted a new price of $471, (about $400 US), to replace the entire ignition which is $212.27 plus labor $199 plus re-key old keys to the new ignition $60. I tried to reason with them by suggesting that the reason the key won't come out is because of the interlock lever being excessively worn as it states in the service bulletin. They disagreed as it says in the bulletin that the warranty repair is only for "wear of the interlock lever" and does NOT cover other "failures in the interlock system". Furthermore, they state that my problem is with the ignition key tumblers and not the interlock system.

I like the suggestion to pull it apart myself and take the ignition assembly to a locksmith. I managed to get the Honda reception person to print out the full 16 page service bulletin which has pictures and detailed instruction on the replacement of the interlock lever (kit P/N: 06351-S84-000), and/or lock cylinder (kit P/N: 06352-S9V-A01) which of course shows the dis-assembly of the steering column.

Although I can't distribute this copyright, (and not for public's eyes), document, you can contact me through this site's web form if you want my own version of the pictures and procedures for pulling apart and removing the ignition assembly.

If this happens to you, get it fixed right away! The first day I had issues, I just had trouble getting the key in the ignition, then over the next two days, it alternated bewteen the key not going into the igntion and the key not turnning over. I got it fixed on the fourth day, when it took me 7 minutes to get my ignition turned over. The ignition switch and two new keys cost around $600, and now I have to manually unlock my door with one key and start the car with a different key since my door lock is broken but that's a seperate issue....