When I turn the car off the key won't come out of the ignition. The car is in park and i tried everything to get it out. I tried turning the wheel, putting it in nutrual and then turning it off and nothing worked. I took it to Midas and one of the mechanics were able to get it out. But everytime I turn my car off i have to wiggle and mess with the shifter knob to get the key to come out. Sometimes it takes me up to 5 minutes to get it out. I don't know if i have to replace the tumbler or the entire ignition because the problem will worsen sooner or later.
I agree with the solution regarding the fuse. However, just wanted to make a slight correction regarding which fuse within my instructions for resolution:
- On the driver's side door near the hinges locate the fuse box (its black).
- Take the fuse box top off of it
- On the fuse box top, there is a legend that identifies each fuse. Correleate the one that says "Radio/Clock" (not Clock/Radio).
- pull that one out with a needle nose pliers or preferably a fuse remover tool. If not available, drive to nearest automotive/gas station or ask a neighbor for those tools.
- pull out "Radio/Clock" fuse (it is the second fuse from the top left column in the yellow background fuse area)
- Once fuse is removed, start the car then turn car off to take key out as normal. DONE! :)
Pulling the 2nd fuse down from the left column works like a charm! The bad news for me is that the shifter is now stuck in Park. I cannot get it to shift without re-installing the fuse. This will allow the shifter to work, but now I cannot remove the key !!!!
TOTALLY WORKS!! THANK YOU.
Now that i put fuse back in and started the car i can not take the key out again.
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OK, I know it's Christmas, but have been dealing with this problem for a little while now (actually worse, as my key is now permanently stuck in), and I know what the problem is, and what a temporary fix is. I have a 2006 Chevy Aveo, and the key would not come out of the ignition, and the car would not come out of park. The problem is the BTSI Solenoid. (Brake Transaxle Shift Interlock Solenoid) This is located in the column right near the shifter. To remove the column, all you need is a Phillips head screwdriver. There are 3 screws, two near the front of the column and one in the cup holder for the back seat. After removing those, pry off the E Brake cover, ad pull it over the E-brake. Then pull up on the E-brake as high as it can go, and you should be able o remove the column from the back first. This part is a manufacturer part, so if you are able to get your hands on the part, then you can fix this yourself. I think the part is about 30 bucks or so. If you get a dealership to do it, I have heard they are charging 200 bucks... not worth it in my opinion. Anyway, if you want a temporary solution to this you can remove the little piece of plastic on the shifter column that is right above the Shift Lock release. If you put a key, or other small hard object in there while the car is running and the brake is on, you can take it out of park with no problems. If you would like to e able to take your key out, the solution to that is (other then get the BTSI solenoid fixed) take the fuse out for the Clock/Radio. I stumbled on this fix today, as I didn’t want to drain my battery while I was waiting for th part to come in. Once you start the car again, and turn it off, you should be able to remove the key. Of course your clock and radio will not work until you put the fuse in again, but a small price to pay for peace of mind. Hope this helps!
I second Greg up top. Not only could I not shift out of park but I also couldn't get my key out of the ignition after stopping. Prying the tab off of the shift lock and sticking a flat object in there does allow me to shift, and removing the fuse for the clock/radio does disable the key lock so you can remove your keys (and I know because I just tried it about five minutes ago and got it to work.)
Take off the center colum taking 2 screws out of the frunt sides and one in rear cup holder pull off the parking lever cover then slide it out then under the shifter there is 2 red wires cut zip tie and yank out the switch cut off the switch and swist the wires together and tape them and ur keys will always come out and ur car will be fine
It is the park release mechanism in the shifter might have had drink spilled in it pull cover off of shifter and look in there should be a lever or solenoid that moves when you put in park
Our daughter has had this issue since we bought the 2006 Aveo for her. You need 2 right hands to jiggle the shifter and turn the key. This week it finally gave up and she couldn't remove the key. I called the dealers and blah blah blah.... When I sat in the car to rescue the key I noticed a tiny removable cover on the shift console with a label saying "shift lock override". I removed it and pushed down with a popsicle stick...then shifted fine. Funny that neither of 2 dealers mentioned that....? I took apart the console (2 screws up front on sides and one under a cap in the rear of console. I found a broken spring that keeps the shifter left and the switch that tells the ignition to let go of the key had broken mounts so floated freely. I drilled a hole on either side of the switch and screwed it into place...it has to be adjusted...not to far in. You will know because there are 2 relay clicks...be in between those and you are good. I re-bent a loop on the extension spring and reused it. The car shifts perfectly and the key always comes out. The best part was that this cost me ZERO.
Hey guys!!just wanted to say thanks for the input, I got home late after work last night and couldnt turn the **** car off all the way or take out the key. I live in a pretty populated area and park on the street, so I was nervous leaving the key in overnight but didnt have much choice. Jumped it this morning and drove to work and did a litlte research into, had no idea it was a common problem.
Anyway, I took the fuse for the radio out(this had been my first thought last night but id dismissed it as foolishly simple)... the key came out no problem, shifter still sticks in park without depressing the realease switch but i can live with it for a few days...
Was planning on probing under the console this weekend to see if the solenoid is loose there as seems to be the case in most of these, hopefully its a simple fix. If its that the part is actually broken and not that its loose, any ideas if a bypass wire over the solenoid as someone suggested above would work?
Solenoid it the shifter. It probably works. What has probably happened over time is that to many drinks have been spilled into the shifter and it is gummed up. Replace the shifter. Clean the cables.
There is a small switch that reads when the shifter is in park. When you take the console out you can see it at the front of the gear lever. I took it out and work it manually and this lets me get the key out. The switch is the issue. A replacement should do the trick.
I had this same problem and i had to take it to the dealership to be fixed and they had to replace the whole shifter because the car basically did not know that it was in park!
It could be a problem with the ignition interlock feature.
When you go into park, there is a cable that releases the ignition cylinder.
If it is not adjusted correctly, it will not let you turn the cylinder all the way off.
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Check out my solution from 2 years ago. It seems it is your shifter switch. The racket falls apart and gets flaky about releasing the ignition key.
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