davenlei

I have had the key get stuck in the ignition twice in a month when trying to get out of the car after arriving at my destination. I tried restarting and stopping my car and the key would still not come out. I was able to get the key out by driving down the parking aisle and re-parking in the same spot and then the key came out without a problem.
I have an appointment this Friday at Tustin Acura and it seemed as if this was the first time the service guy heard of this issue.
I remember reading about others having the same problem and wondered if there was a TSB on it I can take to the dealer.
I did a search and did not find the posts on the problem others have talked about and I checked the service bulletin listing as well and I did not see anything stated on this.
Any one have a TSB or link to the posts?

davenlei

Oh, by the way. The first question he asked me when I told him I need service was "Did you buy the car here?" Since I did not, I wonder if that puts me on the "Not a priority" list.

avs007

If that is really a problem, point out to the dealer that according to Acura, all acura dealers are required to provide warranty service on acura vehicles.

But to answer your other question.... Was the wheel turned slightly? I know on other cars, the automatic return sometimes engages the steering wheel lock. And sometimes the automatic return puts pressure on the locking pin, which causes the ignition key to get stuck. In this situation, to make the key un-stuck, you need to manually turn the wheel a little to relieve pressure off the locking pin.

Not sure if this is the problem you are seeing, but I've seen this happen on many cars of many different manufacturers and makes.

maluskills

^ yeah...you might need to jerk the wheel to the left and the right a few times...and then try it...

davenlei

That is the first thing I thought also so I applied pressure in both directions when trying to disengage the key and no luck. I even turned the steering wheel in multiple places as well as straight and no luck. I had the same steering pin issue with my old RX-7 so I thought of that first.
I tried backing out of the parking spot and reparking and it was still stuck. The only thing that would allow me to remove the key was to drive it down the aisle for a few seconds and re-park.
I found some posts on another site that talks about this and they said it is a problem with the key mechanism and the whole assembly needs to be replaced and re-keyed according to their service people.

davekay

This may be caused by pressure on the steering wheel locking mechanism. If your steering wheel is putting pressure on the locking mechanism, then its impossible to turn the key fully "off" or to withdraw it from the barrel, until you remove that pressure. Try turning the wheel with the engine off, left and right, while at the same time turning the key to "off" and withdrawing it. This may require alot of force, since you are turning the front wheels without the benefit of the power steering pump.

gainsay

Is your car auto or manual shifted?

I had the same problem on my accord 2 years ago after replacing my shifting knob to a customized one (auto tranny w/ the button). After enjoyed the tested-ride with my new knob, I parked my car in the garage and the problem occurred; the key got stuck!! I then replaced the knob back to the stock one, and drive down to a nearest Honda dealer (not the place I purchased the car), and thank god, it's still under warranty (I doubt it if they know I just replaced the knob).

It ended up that my accord stayed in the dealer for about 1 wks and had the whole center console replaced, and most of all, it's free of charge!

After that, I've never tried to do such stupid things again, and IMO as long as you have them see the problem, I believe they will fix that for you, for free. No matter which dealer you go to!

Good luck

davenlei

It is an auto. I had the pressure on the steering mechanism on my RX-7 a lot so I did the whole turn the steerning wheel hard thing but it did not work. The key will go completely to the off position but will not come out. Even moving the car a few feet does not cure it. It had to be driven. It is like the pin or solenoid gets stuck and will not disengage unless it is jarred from driving.

KatyTL

I had the same problem just last night however after 5 min.s of pulling on the key I saw my radio was still on - the key was not turned to off yet I was trying to pull the darn thing out. Hummm I guess another fool on thw site huh

ballinfizzle89

iTrader: (6)

Yea this problem happened to me the second day i had the car lol, but yeah jerk it to the rihgt and left and see if it works

Burgman

Automatics have locks that will not let you remove the key until the car is in Park. Chances are that switch that senses when the car is in park is not working correctly.

PT_saga

I have a 1998 CL which I had the same problem. First I couldn't get it out of park, then when I shut off the engine to remove the key to put it in the shift lock spot, I couldn't remove the key from the ignition...
I tried restarting, wiggling, the works.
Only brute force got me home, and brute force was all that got that key out too.

Now I just have to deal with whatever damage I've done.