Pontiac Repair: key & tumbler, tilt wheel, purple wire

Question
'97 firebird, 3.8 Litre, I shut the car off & no crank, no start, I have all power & the car will start if I jump the starter. I checked all fuses. Could this be the key & tumbler & if so, how do I get the old one out? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Chad:

if it will not crak more then likely it's the factory anti theft sytem that has failed. You can check for power down on the starter at the "crank" wire It's a purple wire if it doesn't have power when the car is cranked chance are the theft stsem is to blame. It' pretty common. What happnes is the wire brak off the ignition lock cylinder. This is not a job for the do it your selfer for a few reasons. #1 the air bag is in the steering wheel and you need special tools to dis assemble the steering column to get the cylinder out. Just by chnace did you try the second key for the car if you have one? You may alos want to try tipping the tilt wheel up or down it may move the wires enoughto make contact to get it started so you can take it to get it fixed instead of having it towed. Good luck :)