Cipher117

my car is in the shop currently but friggin key wont come out of the ignition (which has caused my battery to die) and i've been having off and on problems with the cruise control. sometimes it wants to work and then again, it acts like it has a mind of its on. before people try to flame me on the key part, theres three positions that the key can be in while in the ignition (i dont know the exact name of the positions so i'll just be simple about it). theres the position where you first put it in, then theres the position that says ACC i think and then theres the position where you would crank your engine up. its stuck in the ACC and wont let me turn the key towards me all the way so i can take it out. pissing me off to say the least. anyone else having problems like these?

c0baltic

the last week or so my key has been sticking in my ignition.. i realize it is because when i put it in park it is not presing the button that says the car is in park and it's ok to take the key out ..so when i park i just push my shifter forward just a lil more and since then no problesm

-drew

memphisr24

Did you try turning the steering wheel a bit to the left/right and then trying to take the key out?

JRANGER

I have the same problem. Taking it in tomorrow. Pretty much what I do when it wont pull out I just keep putting the shifter in and out of park until the key will come out. Usually just pushit back and fourth 3 or 4 times and it usually will then come out

bluecobaltss06

it depends on the year of the cobalt. some of them have a shifter problem. if you play with the shifter button untill it properly sits, youll hear it click then you should be able to take the key out. some of them have bad lock cylinders. if you take a mallet and hit the key with the mallet so its pushing it inward lightly you will eventually be able to take it out, also shake violently when trying to turn it off

lightningfast5

if you look in your car manual it tells you how to get the key out if its stuck. im not exact but there is a rubber piece under the wheel and u pop that out and there is a button i there u press while turning the key. Something like that. The manual tells exactly and even shows a picture or 2.

Goat07

My key was sticking in mine i took it to the dealer and they replaced the shifter took like 2 hours i think. My key hasn't stuck since.

c0baltic

i just looked it up.. check your user manulethe page is 2-18.. you need to take the rubber protecttor off below your ignition and stick your finger up into the hole and twords the door there will be a button press that while turning the key to Lock position'

-drew

Bandit2941

If the battery is dead the key won't come out of the ignition. It's likely that the battery went dead first thereby locking they key in the ignition.

Jackalope

Its a problem with some Cobalts and due to it the shifters are now on back order waiting for a replacement for the original. The HHR's have the same issue according to my service dept.

Cipher117

when it first happened, i pushed back and forth on it and then cranked the car up again hoping that it would come out. that worked at first but then i had to try other things like turning the steering wheel and i even tried shifting through all the gears (dont know how that would have helped but it worked once). its happened numerous times. i dont think the battery was dead when it happened the first few times but it sure as hell was when i tried to go to class this morning. i called my local dealership and they towed it with no charge to there and are working on it right now. on the way home, i stopped by to see if they had made any headway and i noticed that, when i looked inside of it, they had taken out the shifter (auto) and left a naked hole with wiring and stuff and that they had taken off the bottom part of the steering column. the guy said that i had a faulty wiring harness, from my guess, in something to do with the shifter. very interesting about the manual though, im going to have to look that up.

JRANGER

well mine is in getting worked on. I hope it done today but the people in the service department said if its not Our 36,000 mile warranty covers a rental car.

Cipher117

my car got fixed in 2 days. i looked at the the repair bill that i didnt have to pay, hehehe, and it said that there WAS a faulty something or nother with the shifter. wiring in there wasnt registering or something. so if anyone else has this problem, since im not the first, take it to your dealership and tell them to check there first because thats probably where the problem is.

linz

Probably the Solenoid (dont know if thats the right spelling). Thats what they replaced in mine and the shifter cause you cant order just the solenoid. Apparently its the thing that tells your ignition that your car is in park and therefore to unlock/let you remove the key.

Firstnaplesbalt

the problem with the ignition is common in chevy cobalts they will replace the shifter under warranty becasue gm has put out a tsb for the problem its labeled 066-07-30-004c

Trey6417

wow, you guys really rock. I love this site now. I just got my cobalt maybe a month ago and have been looking at this site off and on. Then I had this problem with the key getting stuck yesterday and I could feel the dollar bills flying out of my pocket thinking of what it'll cost to get this fix. But the jiggling the key and shifter thing works! Thanks to you guys.

Tung

ya same thing happened to me yesterday

skitzianist

mine just started doing it too... this cobalt is turning into a lemon... i still have to get my blower bearings replaced

cobaltssTH

if you pump the brake pedal the key will come out

zach ls/ss

had to get my whole shifter handle replaced also... working good ever since

Yikes12345

Same problem here. Took it in and they're ordering a new shifter for it. Very common problem so it seems.

kairi02

I've had the same problem. It started last month... my key would turn half way towards me and then it would stick and I couldn't pull it completely out. I though maybe there was a problem with the shifter not realizing it was in park. I brought it into the dealer and they ordered a part.. it took them a WEEK to fix it and when I got it back it was still doing it. I made another appointment at the same dealership to have them look at it again and they said there was nothing wrong with it !!! A month later and it is still continuing to stick. I found that if you shift the car in and out of park a few times it will eventually let the key come out. I have an appointment tomorrow at a different dealership so I decided to look up and see if this was just a freak kind of thing, but obviously many others are having the same problem! good to know !

curley b

they fixed it by replacing the shifter has something to do with the linkage

roccobladr

does this happen with automatics as well? i have an auto and i had the same problem.

theboy16

my balt it did it for the last 2 months i had it, mine was an auto. it was a major pain in the ass, the easy way to get your key out is to put your car in park with your foot on the brake let off the brake and let your car move then apply the e-brake then try and take your key out

i noticed that mine did the most when i parked on a slope and doing this decreased the amount of time it did it by A LOT