Hi everyone,

I have a 2007 Ford Fiesta and am having some trouble with the ignition.

Up until recently the car worked absolutley fine then on a couple of ocassions it would switch off whilst driving... fortuninatley I wasn't driving fast and a simple returning of the key would resolve the issue.

It then started happening more often - a bumpy road, touching the key, weight of other keys on the keyring... all would cause the engine to switch off.

And now its at a point that unless I continuously hold the key in position III the car will just switch off.

From the research I've done the issue points to two primary areas;

1. The ignition barrel itself

2. The ignition switch

A mechanic said, without seeing the car mind, that I should purchase the whole mechanism to ensure everything works, but I am finding it difficult to find such a product at a reasonable price.

Changing the ingition switch, but its odd that this could be the problem when its so much further away from the barrel, and I just thought it was a "key slipping"...!!

Any advice and help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance all

Regards,

VS

Sounds like the switch. They only cost £10 on ebay.

Many thanks Tom, I will try and fix this in the first instance and report back for you, and those who may find it useful.

First time I'm going to attempt something rather complex on a car as a DIYer, wish me luck ha!

On 2/20/2026 at 12:43 PM, TomsFocus said:

Sounds like the switch. They only cost £10 on ebay.

I finally got around to focussing on this issue and I just want to say a big thank you to you Tom! What you advised worked!

It took about 30 mins in total to install and works a treat!

For those interested, this is the product I purchased, and the second link is the video I followed to gain access to the ignition switch;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/febi-bilstein-171585-Ignition-Switch/dp/B08FXCXZYL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vm-C_1uwcQ

Thanks again!

VS