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Cannot remove ignition key on 98 Pontiac Grand Prix
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rvervelde
Anonymous Poster
rvervelde@msn.com
Feb 9, 2007, 9:04 PM
Post #1 of 4
(3587 views)
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Cannot remove ignition key on 98 Pontiac Grand Prix
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I have a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix and the ignition key is stuck and we cannot remove it. We had it once or twice that if the key didn't come out. You would just move the shifter back and forth and turn the steering wheel a little and they would com out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
LAcontracts@gmail.com
Jun 9, 2007, 1:44 PM
Post #2 of 4
(3555 views)
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Re: Cannot remove ignition key on 98 Pontiac Grand Prix
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I have a 98 Pontiac Sunfire and am having the same issue. Did you resolve it? If so, what was the issue?
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
LAcontracts@gmail.com
Jun 13, 2007, 11:28 PM
Post #3 of 4
(3542 views)
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Re: Cannot remove ignition key on 98 Pontiac Grand Prix
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For anyone with this type of problem, here's the next part of my story:
I got the car into the dealer this morning. It took them one hour to take the console apart, diagnose, clean the parts and put it all back to together. They say that the entire floor shift mechanism must be replaced--the part of it that is broken cannot be repaired--the part comes as one entire unit. The part that they say that needs to replace is "Handle AS" GM Part # GM12552512 at $169. (Labor will be $176 at $118 per hour.) There were none of these parts in stock in my city, so it must be sent from Memphis (a 3-5 day wait).
They did get the key out of the ignition, and I drove it home, and the key shut completely off and came out of the ignition when I got home, so the cleaning and re-assembling seems to have bought me some time (if not fixed it entirely).
The mechanic believes someone (previous owner of the car) spilled soda on the center console. Sticky goo started to interfere with the shift unit and caused something to break when the weather got warm here last week. (I have only owned this car a short time.)
I did look at many several sites last weekend. An owner of a Chevy Blazer wrote me about a "plug" on the underside of his steering column that allowed him to access a key release button that is on the back of some ignitions. He said that there was a small aluminum rod in the steering column that broke for him, and he was able to replace it fairly easily, and that fixed the problem for him. My steering column has no access plug or panel, and it doesn't seem like that is my problem anyway. (Chilton's manual says that the airbag must be disabled before the steering column can be worked on, so I didn't take the steering column cover off, which looked easy to do.)
A Pontiac owner with a similar problem wrote me that her dealer replaced her ignition switch free (it was a recalled item), and that fixed the issue for her. My dealer ran my VIN, said that this part had been replaced already on my car, and he doubted that this was my problem. He zeroed in on the center console. On another site, a writer wrote that the problem is likely the shift interlock, and for me that is in the center console but for the Blazer owner and the other Pontiac owner, it must have been in the steering column.
I am afraid to drive my car, but I should be driving it to see if it is fixed or I really need to do the $350 fix recommended by the dealer.
This is one of the stranger issues that I have ever had with a car, and I have owned four cars that passed 200,000 miles.
Lisa
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jun 14, 2007, 4:49 AM
Post #4 of 4
(3540 views)
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Re: Cannot remove ignition key on 98 Pontiac Grand Prix
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That's a lot of bucks just to get a key out!! Why, if they found some evidence of sticky dried soda didn't they just clean it and use like WD-40 all over the moving parts? I would think that would have done it if a recall replacement was in fact already done,
T
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