Why My Car Key Won’t Come Out Of Ignition?

Cars are our helping hand when it comes to driving long routes. So, if anything happens to our precious vehicle, we become stressed and panic ourselves. Consider a situation you are getting late for a meeting and your key won’t come out of ignition, and there is no one to help you nearby what will you do then?

You simply cannot go anywhere leaving it unlocked midway. It is really frustrating to remove the key that is stuck inside the lock. We are here with the solutions that you can read to remove the key out of the ignition.

Why My Car Key Won’t Come Out Of Ignition?

If the key gets stuck in the ignition, you will be in great trouble. Because you just can’t keep your car unlocked and go on anywhere. The most common reasons we have covered here are the easiest to fix. As listed below, you can try these home remedies to get your key out of the ignition. You can apply these. The first thing you should do is to stay calm.

1. Your Car Is Not Parked Or In Neutral

Many automatic transmission vehicles come with a safety feature that prevents the driver from removing the key from the ignition if the car is not in park or neutral. In an automatic transmission, if the gear is set to drive, neutral the key won’t come out of the ignition. In a manual one, make sure to keep the gear shifter in “Neutral” and not in any other gear.Fix:

The solution for this is nothing but to try to keep your shifter in a park or neutral position. If your vehicle has a digital screen that displays the gear settings, check that the “P” is highlighted. Still, if your car is not coming out of the ignition then try turning the car on again and turn it off properly. Don’t forcefully try to remove the key, it might break the key.

2. Steering Wheel Is Locked

If you turn off the vehicle while moving the steering wheel only a bit then the steering wheel lock is activated. This will prevent you from turning the steering wheel and also from removing the key from the ignition either. This happens when any kind of force is applied to the wheel when turning the engine off. The wheel lock is made to prevent movement when no key is present in it.Fix:

Apply some pressure to turn the key and wheel together. If you don’t hear any noise then do the same in another direction. Be gentle to the key, don’t push it too hard which might break it off, that needs totally different issues like specific tools or call a locksmith.

3. Your Battery Is In Dead State

If you tried the above two methods then also your key is not removed then dead car battery might be a reason. Check the battery before doing any actions. How will you check that? Turn on your headlights or the signals. If they are working properly, then it might have any other issue. But if they aren’t glowing, your car battery is likely to be dead. Fix:

Try to jump-start your car to remove the key. Replace the battery right away have a full check of your electrical charging system. Use a tack hammer and gently tap the cylinder with it.

4. Dirty Key

Many a time we tend to open or scrape some boxes or stickers with our key. This makes the key not perfectly inside the lockset. Unknowingly, the tape dirt gets stuck to the key, and debris is collected from it. If the key is directly inserted into the ignition of your vehicle then it will become difficult to get fixed with the ignition pins.

Fix:

Rubbing the key or using it as a knife can lead to debris collected on the key itself. A little rubbing alcohol and scrubbing will solve the issue immediately. You can also use an alcohol cylinder to wipe out grime from a dirty key. A cotton swab can be quite handy for cleaning.

5. Faulty Ignition Cylinder

Metal is a malleable material, and wear and tear do affect the proper functioning of the ignition mechanism. And then the last problem that can be considered is having a faulty ignition cylinder. Something might be obstructing the ignition cylinder the air, the debris, or anything else.

As the car becomes older day by day, the cylinder to starts getting old. So it causes the whole internal mechanism to get stopped. If this is the case, the key won’t come out of the ignition. The price to replace the ignition cylinder can range from low to high.Fix: 

If you need to remove the key out, try spraying some WD-40 and then reinsert it again with very light hands. This might lubricate the whole internal mechanism and give you relief from the replacement of the battery. If this doesn’t work then something internally is seriously wrong with the cylinder and mechanism.

Take it to the technician and replace the entire cylinder. But, without removing the key you will not be able to determine whether the ignition cylinder is broken or not. It will be best explained and repaired by a professional.

How Do You Know If The Ignition Switch Is Bad?

Here are some of the signs of a failing ignition switch:

  1. The car will not start.
  2. Car Stalling.
  3. Dashboard lights flicker.
  4. Key fails to turn.
  5. The engine/starter will not make any noise.

Conclusion

In an automobile system, you are not the first one to go through all these problems so this is the advantage that someone will always be there for your rescue. But some precautions need to be followed for the key won’t come out of ignition. Mainly do not apply excessive pressure for the removal of the key otherwise something worst can happen.

If nothing works for the key removal, the locksmith will always be there as your savior. So these were the common problems faced by the car owner that have been listed here. Hope this article will prove helpful to you.

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