Key stuck in ignition

[thepuzzlemaster]

This afternoon, I arrived at my destination. Put the van ('96 hiAce) in park, but the key wouldn't turn past "Acc". I can't turn it all the way off or remove it from the ignition!

I'm definitely in park. I've tried moving the steering wheel, putting it in/out of park numerous times. It just won't budge past "Acc" in the off position. It starts fine. But it's totally locked in place otherwise. The gear indicator shows the van as in "P".

Thoughts?

[thepuzzlemaster]

Well, I figured out what was causing it. I thought maybe there was an electrical switch that was preventing it from turning, so I disconnected the battery, but it still wouldn't budge. I also realized the other thing that had recently changed was that I'd recently added some epoxy clay to the handle of the key, because I think it feels nicer to use when i do that. https://photos.app.goo.gl/YYPoeQq2ebt99pwL8

Unfortunately, the clay was preventing the key from pushing IN to the cylinder the 1/8" it needs to depress in order to unlock the "off" key mode. I was able to jiggle the key around enough in the cylinder to wear off a little bit of the clay and then used a screwdriver to manually depress the center metal part where the key goes in, and I was able to unlock it enough to get the key out. I sanded down the clay on the bottom of the handle and now it works normally again.

I'm very thankful it wasn't a bigger issue!