Chevrolet Express & GMC Savana Ignition Switch Repair in Granbury, TX

A cargo van that will not start is not a vehicle problem, it is a payroll problem. Every hour an Express or Savana sits at a Hood County job site with a key that will not turn, somebody is not getting paid and a customer is not getting served. Call or text (817) 214-2934 — we repair ignitions where the van is parked.

Quick Answer

On Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans, a key that will not turn is almost always a worn ignition lock cylinder rather than a failed electrical switch. We repair or replace the cylinder on site across Granbury and Hood County, and cut a fresh key so the new cylinder is not fighting a twenty-year-old blade. As of July 2026, most Granbury ignition work falls in the $150–$350 range, with a full cylinder replacement plus new keys at the top of that band. You get the number before we start.

Why GM Vans Wear Out Ignitions Faster Than Anything Else We Service

Full-size vans lead our ignition call volume, and the reasons are structural, not random.

Heavy key rings. A fleet van's key usually shares a ring with shop keys, gate keys, padlock keys, a fob, and a bottle opener. That mass hangs off the cylinder and swings every time the van crosses a cattle guard on a county road. Over years, it wears the wafers and the cam.

Multiple drivers, multiple techniques. A personal truck gets one owner's habits. A work van gets four people, one of whom yanks the wheel while turning the key and one of whom jiggles it. Wear accelerates.

Duty cycle. A contractor's van gets keyed on and off fifteen times a day, not twice. The cylinder sees several times the cycles a commuter car does over the same calendar years.

Age of the fleet. The Express and Savana platform ran a very long production life with a conservative ignition design. There are a lot of high-mileage examples still working in Hood County, and they are all past the point where cylinder wear shows up.

How to Tell a Worn Cylinder From a Failed Switch

These get confused, and the fix differs.

Symptoms that point to the lock cylinder

• The key goes in but will not rotate, or rotates only with force and wiggling.
• The key rotates but has to be held in a specific position to keep the engine running.
• The key sticks and will not return from the start position.
• The key comes out in positions it should not, or will not come out at all.
• A worn original key works worse than a newer copy of the same key.

Symptoms that point to the electrical switch or elsewhere

• The key turns freely and normally, but nothing happens electrically.
• Accessories power up but the starter never engages.
• The security light flashes and the engine starts then immediately stalls — that is an immobilizer authentication problem, not a mechanical one. See our immobilizer programming page.
• Intermittent no-start that correlates with weather or vibration, often a ground or connector issue rather than the ignition assembly.

We diagnose which of these you actually have before quoting parts. Replacing an ignition cylinder on a van whose problem is a corroded ground is an expensive way to not fix anything.

Granbury Pricing for Express and Savana Ignition Work

Hood County ranges as of July 2026. Older Express and Savana vans with simple mechanical or resistor-style keys sit at the low end; later vans with transponder keys and a security relearn sit higher. Our general ignition repair service page covers the process for all vehicles.

Should the New Cylinder Match the Old Key?

This is the decision most owners do not know they are making, and it matters for a fleet.

Option A — rekey the new cylinder to your existing key. One key still opens the doors and starts the van. Convenient. But if the old key is worn, you have just installed a fresh cylinder and immediately started wearing it with a bad blade.

Option B — new cylinder with new keys, doors left alone. Cheapest path, but now the driver carries two keys.

Option C — new cylinder plus door locks rekeyed to match, all new keys. Everything on one key, everything fresh. Costs more up front and is usually the right call on a van that is going to stay in service for years.

For a fleet, there is a fourth consideration: keying multiple vans so that a single supervisor key works across the fleet while each driver carries only their own. That is a conversation worth having before we cut anything.

The Fleet Math Nobody Runs

A cargo van down for a day is not a $300 problem. Run the numbers the way a Hood County contractor experiences it: a crew standing around, a job pushed to next week, a customer who now has a reason to call somebody else, plus a tow if the van cannot be driven to a shop.

Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction and specialty trade wages in Texas represent a real per-hour cost for every idle crew member — which is why the cheapest ignition repair is the one that happens at the job site instead of after a tow to a shop bay.

That is the entire argument for mobile service on commercial vehicles. We drive to Cresson, to a pad site off 377, to a shop yard in Tolar. The van does not move; the technician does.

Common Express and Savana Problems We See in Hood County

Key turns to ACC but stops before START

Classic wafer wear. The cylinder rotates part way and the worn wafers no longer align to let it continue. Wiggling works for a while, then it does not.

Key snapped off in the cylinder

Usually the end stage of the above — someone applied enough force to break the blade. Extraction is a routine job, but do not try to fish it out with pliers or superglue. Broken-key extraction attempts are how a $150 job becomes a column replacement.

Van starts with one driver and not another

Nearly always a worn cylinder that has learned one person's technique. It is a countdown, not a personality quirk.

Security light on, engine fires and dies

Not an ignition mechanical fault. The immobilizer is refusing to authorize the engine. On these vans that often traces to the key's transponder or the security module rather than the lock. Our car key programming service covers the key side.

Ignition replaced last year, already sloppy again

Almost always a cheap aftermarket cylinder, an old worn key put back into a new cylinder, or the same heavy key ring immediately reinstalled. All three are avoidable.

How to Make the Next One Last

• Take the van key off the big ring. This one change extends cylinder life more than anything else. A driver can carry the van key separately.
• Replace worn keys before they wear the cylinder. A key with rounded cuts is sandpaper. Cutting a fresh key from code — not copying the worn one — costs a fraction of a cylinder.
• Do not force it. A key that needs jiggling is telling you something. That is the cheap window to fix it.
• Keep a spare per van, stored at the shop. Not in the van, not on the same ring. See our spare and duplicate key service.

Working Across Hood County

We cover Granbury, Acton, DeCordova, Pecan Plantation, Tolar, Lipan, Cresson, Nemo, Bluff Dale, and out toward Glen Rose, Weatherford, and Stephenville within a 25-mile radius. For a van at a job site, give us a cross street or a pad number rather than a mailbox address — rural addressing is the single biggest cause of a late arrival. Community-by-community drive expectations are in our Hood County response-time guide, and if a van is stranded off-hours, our emergency car key replacement in Granbury page explains what to have ready.

Texas locksmiths operate under the Texas Department of Public Safety Private Security Program. For company vehicles we verify authorization with the registration in the business name plus your photo ID, or a signed fleet letter.

Frequently Asked Questions

My key will not turn in my Express van. Is the ignition switch bad? Usually it is the lock cylinder, not the electrical switch. When the key physically resists turning, the wear is mechanical. A failed electrical switch normally lets the key turn freely while nothing happens. We confirm which one you have before quoting.

Can you repair the ignition at my job site, or does the van need to come in? At your site. Ignition cylinder work on an Express or Savana is a mobile job — we bring the parts, the cutting equipment, and the programming tools to the van.

How much does ignition repair cost on a work van in Granbury? Most Granbury ignition jobs fall in the $150–$350 range as of July 2026, with stuck-key extraction lower and a full cylinder replacement with new keys at the top. Older vans without transponder keys are typically cheaper than late ones needing a security relearn.

My key broke off in the ignition. Can you get it out without replacing the column? Yes, in the large majority of cases. Extraction is routine when it is done with the right tools. What causes column damage is prying at it with pliers or picks first — call before you experiment.

Should the new ignition use my existing key? It can, but if your current key is worn it will start damaging the new cylinder immediately. On a van that is staying in service we usually recommend a new cylinder with fresh keys, and rekeying the doors to match so the driver carries one key.

Can you key several fleet vans alike? That is worth discussing before we cut anything. Fleet keying decisions are easier to make once than to retrofit across five vans later.

Do you work on the security system too, or just the mechanical lock? Both. If the van has a transponder key or an immobilizer fault, we handle key programming and immobilizer work in the same visit rather than sending you somewhere else.

Get the Van Back to Work

If your Express or Savana has a key that will not turn, a broken blade in the cylinder, or an ignition that only works if you hold it just right, call or text (817) 214-2934. We serve Granbury and all of Hood County, weekdays 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Saturdays 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with 24/7 emergency availability. You can also request service through our contact page or read what a locksmith can do without your original key.

Sources

• Texas Department of Public Safety — Private Security Program
• Associated Locksmiths of America
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wages
• National Automotive Service Task Force — Vehicle Security Professional Program
• Federal Trade Commission — How to Find a Good Auto Repair Shop