My fiancee drives a 1997 automatic Ford escort. Last night with the engine off, I turned the steering wheel to the right until it locked up. I did this so that I could like at her driver’s side wheel which is making noise on right turns. Well, this morning when she went out to head to class, the ignition would not turn so the car wouldn’t start. So the steering wheel is locked up, the key won’t turn in the ignition, and the shift won’t move out of park. Does anybody have any idea what is going on? Or even more important how we could fix it? Thanks
Sometimes this happens. Turn the steering wheel a little one way or the other (it may take some force) and the key should turn.
Usually this is caused by tension holding the steering wheel against the steering lock mechanism. The steering wheel should rotate slightly–turn it and hold it away from the lock (takes a bit of oomph) and then turn the key. The shifter should move after the key has been turned from the “lock” position to the “off” position.
Another thing to try is to take the parking brake off and try to rock the car a bit–some cars I have driven would lock up like this until the transmission shifted a bit. I have no idea why.
Thanks all for the good advice, we were able to get her car started.
Now for the bad news…Was the noise a “click-click-click” on turns? Probably a bad axle. At the least, it’s a damaged rubber boot around the axel, allowing the grease to become fouled with dirt and road debris.
If you can hear the problem, the CV is already shot. A boot replacement wont fix the problem.
Everyone with a FWD vehicle (and some RWD) should at the very least make it a habit to check their CV boots whenever their oil gets changed. It’s far cheaper to change a just boot than the joint or axle.
well good now I have something new to be concerned about. Do you all suggest that she gets it to a mechanic immediately? The noise only happens on right turns and at speeds of over 20 mph. It sounds like a bolt being shook in a coffee can. I check ed the wheel and nothing was loose as far as I could see. Thanks again.
It’s almost certainly the CV. It’s not like the wheel is going to fall off right away or anything like that. However, if you are not mechanically inclined to repair it yourself, then yes, it’s time to visit a mechanic.
Locking the steering: I’m amazed your financee did not know that the steering wheel has a “locked” position whcih locks the ignition. (I thought I was the last to know!). When my first car, a 1991 Sundance, locked the ignition, I called the dealer. They must have had a good laugh, but I never experienced this before.
It used to be that compact cars had a button to press to unlock the steering. Somewhere along the line, this was done away with. I think the auto industry just assumed we’d know to wiggle the steering in order to unlock the ignition.
Why does the ignition even need to be locked??? It seems like more of an annoying feature than anything else.
- Jinx
You can always read the manual 
Acutally, the ignition is not locked directly. Since the ignition is now connected to the locking mechanism for the steering wheel, it receives some of the tension if the wheel is up against the lock and it is preventing it from turning. IIRC, I have never had this happen on a manual transmission with the button (even on the the ignition). It seem that when they connected it to the park position on an automatic that something changed that a locked wheel can affect the ability to turn the key. If everyone still wanted to push a button, this probably wouldn’t happen. But the convenience of engaging the lock on the steering column outweight the infrequent inconvience of having to take the pressure off the lock in order to start the car.