New car key stuck in ignition AGAIN!

b3y0nd3r

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Aug 27, 2011
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So 3 months ago on a Friday at work, my car key was stuck in the ignition of my 2011 Honda CRZ. After 3 hours of trying to get the key out and making phone calls, I had to have it towed to the dealer. Monday came and I got a call saying it would be $1000 dollars and 7-10 business days to fix. So, I went up and bought a new car from the dealer.

I got a 2017 Honda Civic. I decked out the car including steering cover. seat covers, gear shift cover, mats everything. So I go to the store and what happens? The key get stuck in the ignition! How can this happen twice with two different cars?

Since the car would start, but not let the key out, I drove to my parents so i could arrange to get the car to the dealer for Monday. While my father is trying to fix it, my mother pulls up a video with a guy who shows a absolute fix for this but he took the gear shift apart. i realized what happened in an instant. The gear shift cover was squeezing the button just enough to fool the electronics into thinking I was still shifting the car(into park or drive). I peeled back the cover to release the button and the key came right out!

So just a heads up if anyone comes across this issue in the future(and no that isnt what happened with the first one, it had no cover).
 

shocked_01.gif
Happy you got it fixed! I did a search on google (Enter with quotes: honda "key stuck in ignition") and OMG - you certainly aren't alone!
 

My experience is that when anything weird breaks, check youtube. Someone else probably has has the same problem. Just had this happened a couple of months ago when my electric mower just quit. an $8 rectifier was the fix. Took 5 min to fix. I also would go back and speak to the service mgr at the dealership that wanted to charge $1000. I'm sure that wasn't the first time that has happened.
 

I was in the car business for 15 years and my number one rule is never bring your car to get fixed at a dealership they'll knock your head off.


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Had that happen in my Grand Am. Take a rubber mallet and tap it 2 or 3 times and the key came right out.
 

On my Dodge truck sometimes my steering wheel has something to do with that so I will move it back-and-forth until the key comes out


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So 3 months ago on a Friday at work, my car key was stuck in the ignition of my 2011 Honda CRZ. After 3 hours of trying to get the key out and making phone calls, I had to have it towed to the dealer. Monday came and I got a call saying it would be $1000 dollars and 7-10 business days to fix. So, I went up and bought a new car from the dealer.

I got a 2017 Honda Civic. I decked out the car including steering cover. seat covers, gear shift cover, mats everything. So I go to the store and what happens? The key get stuck in the ignition! How can this happen twice with two different cars?

Since the car would start, but not let the key out, I drove to my parents so i could arrange to get the car to the dealer for Monday. While my father is trying to fix it, my mother pulls up a video with a guy who shows a absolute fix for this but he took the gear shift apart. i realized what happened in an instant. The gear shift cover was squeezing the button just enough to fool the electronics into thinking I was still shifting the car(into park or drive). I peeled back the cover to release the button and the key came right out!

So just a heads up if anyone comes across this issue in the future(and no that isnt what happened with the first one, it had no cover).

I had an old dodge neon that you could just pull the key out while you were driving. Made for a great laugh when someone new got into the car and while your driving down the road you just pull the key out and throw it into their lap saying "catch". People with no mechanical knowledge freaked out.
 

I had one similar, I used to have a 2 door E36 BMW - I went to turn the car off and the key came out - but was the car was still running. WTF! I put the key back in and it just spun, all the way around, car still running - no way to shut it off. I popped the battery terminals in the trunk - damn good alternator, still won't shut off. By this time I am starting to panic, but then I remembered the fuse box - I pulled the fuse for the fuel pump and it finally petered out.
 

On my Dodge truck sometimes my steering wheel has something to do with that so I will move it back-and-forth until the key comes out


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Both of our Ford 150's did the same thing, put the key in and couldn't turn it to start it. We had to jerk the locked steering wheel hard enough to move it a little so then the key could be turned.
Still happens once in a while.

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Glad you figured it out and thanks for the tip. Yep, YouTube has saved me a ton of money on car mechanics.
 

$1000 for a stuck ignition key switch?

Just bust the steering column collar open and run wires to a push button switch.

:dontknow:

Maybe $20 for some wire and a push switch. Hide the start switch i n the glove box or anywhere you care to.
 

My 2016 F-150 has done that a couple times recently. Parking with the wheels turned seems to put pressure on the steering. Moving the wheel a little releases the key.
 

I had that issue in my 2004 trailblazer it turned out that the previous owner had rammed the shifter into park a little to hard and slightly bent the shifter arm, causing the safety switch to stick. So I disabled the button slide mechanism inside the shifter and now it will start in any gear, oops.
 

I had that issue in my 2004 trailblazer it turned out that the previous owner had rammed the shifter into park a little to hard and slightly bent the shifter arm, causing the safety switch to stick. So I disabled the button slide mechanism inside the shifter and now it will start in any gear, oops.

oops is right. better get that fixed before another oops.
 

Step on the brake. Make sure you are in park. Wiggle the steering wheel while you try to remove the key. My ancient (for here in the land of rust) 1999 Nissan Frontier has an interlock. The key will not come out unless its in the right condition. I can't exactly remember what activates the interlock. I have had the truck for so long I just automatically do it to release the key.
 

My parents bought a 2015 Honda CR-V and it has one of those Keyless ignitions. Rather have a key as one day someone is going to lose the fob and not get into the car or as the last time I drove, Mom walked off and have the fob in her purse and the stupid thing starts beeping as she gets away and I am yelling out the window "Key Please" in the parking lot. If they told me $1000.00 for repair of the ignition, I'd ask for the Regional Service Center Manager as you needed to talk to them about the costs of repairs and that might get better reaction, may not. Always used to get the General Motors people hopping if I thought they were too high on a repair. Glad you figured this one out without further cost!
 

Drive manual transmissions!

Like real man should anyway!

Greets

Namxat
 

Have a Mercedes Benz Printer van. The ignition froze. Would not turn. 1870.00 plus towing. Youch
 

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