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Key stuck in ignition

143K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  Tony_J 
#1 ·
Saturday night my wife drove my 05 Accord EX-L coupe with automatic transmission.. When she shut the car off the key would not turn all the way back to the original position and the key remained stuck in the ignition. I even restarted the car, put it in gear then shifted back into park and shut the car off again but the key remained stuck. I figured it was going to require a trip to the deal for a new igintion switch. In the frustration of trying to remove the key, I inadvertently left the key in the accessory position overnight which drained the battery to the point where I had to use jumper cables to start it and was prompted to enter the radio code. It was like re-booting the car. Low and behold the key was removable as normal when shutting off the car. Anyone here ever have this happen?
 
#2 ·
Most of the time, I get calls from customers who don't realize that Hondas have a steering wheel lockout. If the steering wheel is forced against the lockout gate too hard, the key can't be removed, so I usually tell them to turn their steering wheels a bit to release the lock.

I don't know if this is your problem or not, but I do get a lot of calls regarding it.
 
#3 ·
I did try turning the steering wheel first. That wasn't the problem. The key wouldn't turn far enough back to get to the Zero position. I read somewhere on the internet that the ignition switch and the gear shift were connected electronically somehow.
 
#4 ·
Are you absolutely sure that there is nothing preventing the shiftter from going back into park? This has happened to me a few times,and the reason ends up being because a lanyard or something gets stuck to prevent it from fully returning to the original position.
 
#7 ·
Make sure the shift knob isn't slightly depressed because if it is, it will not allow you to remove the key. There is a little white plunger there and if its slightly depressed, your key will not come out. Here is a picture for reference of what I am talking about.


I know this because I modified the Acura TSX shift knob into my 8th gen Accord and without the modification my key wouldn't come out for the same reason. The 7th gen Accord has the same plunger.
 
#9 ·
My problem is that they won't return to zero. I'm still trying to fix it and it wouldn't be such a problem if it was the main key but since it's the spare key it's a pain to start. It's been like this for about a week now and nothing. Zip. Trying WD40 now. It's a Honda Accord 2000. Any help/tips?


EDIT: Just tried WD40, not working. I saw some video on Youtube about gear shifting. Will try that now.
 
G
#10 ·
My wife drove our 2004 Accord home tonight and couldn't get the key to come all the way back to the off position to remove the key. I tried and tried to get the key out, thinking the lock was jamed. After reading on the web, I found there is an interlock cable where the key can't be removed unless the transmission is in park. I got a flashlight and found a quarter, seated edgewise down at the base of the shifter. The car would go into park, but would not quite get seated in park enough to make up the interlock to the ignition switch. As soon as we removed the quarter, and put the car in drive then back in park, the key came out fine.
 
#13 ·
My ‘06 has the same problem. Except I can’t get mine outta park unless I press the little unlock button next to the shifter….and I have to disconnect the battery every time I want to put my key in the Zero position and get it out of the ignition!? What’s the problem….oh, and none of the gear symbols illuminate on the cluster…EVER!?
 
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