Q: The car has trouble cranking unless i push the key in hard and wiggle it.
The car used to take 20 times of turning the key to crank. I then figured out that pushing the key in towards the wheel fairly hard and/or wiggling it will get it to crank. When it does crank it turns over and starts fine. I believe it's a problem with the contacts in the ignition system or something. I already tried replacing the ignition switch (the old one's holes did not look lined up if that helps) which fixed the problem for 4 days and then it began doing the same thing. I now believe it could be the actuator pin i could replace but I have no experience with cars so I'm not sure if that's it. What would you expect the problem to be?
My car has 66009 miles.
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It looks like you are in the right area. Replacing the ignition switch temporarily helping your difficulty starting the car leads me to believe your ignition lock cylinder may be worn. The lock cylinder - and key - will wear out over time simply from inserting and removing the key.
When you mentioned that it would work after "pushing the key towards the wheel and wiggling it", this seems to indicate by doing that wiggle, you’re moving the internals of the ignition lock cylinder enough to get those worn components to make proper contact within the ignition switch. New ignition lock cylinders usually come with a new key as well. This may solve the problem.
However, I’d suggest getting this looked at by a qualified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, to narrow down the variables. They will be able to diagnose your hard start issue and fix it accordingly.
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