Ignition Key Will Not Come Out

[Dennis DiNorcia CLC 19071]

I had a strange thing happen to me this weekend. On my 2006 DTS, I turned off the ignition and tried to remove the key and it would not come out! I kept wiggling the key to see if it wasn't positioned right for removal, but it would not budge.  I turned the ignition back on and of a few times before the key finally came out. Is this some kind of security malfunction? Never happened to me before.

[jeff1956]

this is a very common issue on the chevy impala as well.  its likely the switch will just get worse as time goes by.  if your car is under warranty id take it in as out of pocket costs for replacement later will run you upwards of 400.00!! if the dealer refuses to replace it get that in writing along with what your original complaint was so if it fails totally later you may have some recourse towards reimbursement if you have proof you complained about it before warranty expired and dealer did not replace.  you may eventually get the dreaded security light of death which will basically shut your car down whenever you turn it off only to flash the light and disable the fuel supply.  mine did this in the sears parking lot and took me three hours to get it to finally start...

jeff

[Dennis DiNorcia CLC 19071]

Car only has 33,000 miles. Could this be worn out so soon?

[jeff1956]

It is not so much the lock as it is the key.  Sometimes a new key will fix it and sometimes it won't.  If you have a spare key that is rarely used, compare it to your daily use key....you will see a major difference on the teeth or should.  Most of the time the dealer will not waste their time replacing just the key and will upsell you to an ignition switch and key.  I had this issue about a year ago, but my car is out of warranty and I chose to just have a new key made...I have had no issues since (knock on wood).  If it's under warranty though, I'd let them replace the entire unit.....but this will be a recurring problem as there is no new re-designed ignition...so even the new one will fail eventually.

Jeff

[David King (kz78hy)]

If the steering wheel was turned and the front wheels were stressed, like on a curb or an incline, there is a load on the lock unit and it binds up.  Try turning the steering wheel a little when this happens the direction opposite of the bind and I will bet the key comes out as it should.  I have had this happen on many cars, both here and in Europe.

David