Key stuck in ignition lock cylinder

Not trying to dredge up an old thread, but there really wasn't a better place to put this.

I fixed this problem on my 2000 GP yesterday, by accidentally discovering a variation on the "get rid of it" theme. Preferring to fix the root cause of problems, I started out opening up the console expecting to find a frayed or broken wire down at the shifter. I was surprised to find everything still pristine there. So I decided to proceed with "getting rid of it." I took the bottom cover off the column, got the little 3/16"-headed screw out, pulled the electrical connector out - and then couldn't get the solenoid to budge. I had a pair of long nose pliers on the upper-right portion of the housing (in Abrasive's picture on page 1 of this thread), when that part of the housing broke. The steel plunger came out (part of which is visible protruding from the upper-left in the picture) along with its spring. I made sure there were no broken pieces of plastic left to get caught anywhere, put the little screw back in to hold things in place, and zip-tied the connector to the nearby harness so it wouldn't rattle. Everything works as it should have in the first place now, AFAIC.

Just wanted to post this for the future in case anyone else can't get the solenoid out. That upper-right part is very easy to break off and that's one more way to get around this problem.

This is not a very elegant fix, but it costs $1.50 max and works every time. It also avoids the potential safety problem of removing or disabling the solenoid. The parts you need are:

1/4" carriage bolt, 1-1/2" long
1/4" acorn nut
5/16" x 1-1/2" spring, .020 wire


Take the lower cover off of the steering column, put the bolt through the access hole for the solenoid, with the head of the bolt on the inside of the cover. Put the spring over the bolt, with the end of the spring seated in the well of the access hole. Tighten the acorn nut until the bolt bottoms in it. Reassemble it all, and now you can press up on the acorn nut to release the key.

Use a carriage bolt, not a standard one, because you want the un-threaded section under the head that the carriage style has. It slides smoothly through the access hole, where a fully-threaded one does not. Learned that on the first try.



Enjoy.

My neighbor, who has a 2000 3.8L 2-door Pontiac Grand Prix SE, emailed me this morning that she couldn't remove the key after placing the car in Park. She said it has happened a couple of times over the past 5 days and asked for my help.

I began searching the internet and came upon this forum. What an excellent bunch of information here! This evening, when she got home, try as I might, the key never got stuck. I told her I've read that many people have experienced this same problem and that I could install the manual override feature that SteelBiker described above since this is such an intermittent problem. She agreed. I just completed the modification and it works perfect.

Thanks to all (especially SteelBiker),
creakndale

That is not a carriage bolt in the pic two posts up.

Agreed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Madness

That is not a carriage bolt in the pic two posts up.

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It was SteelBikers concept that was so ingenious.

I actually used a 2 inch 1/4"-20 bolt because the non threaded (smooth) section was 1-1/8" long. Using a hacksaw I cut the bolt's overall end-to-end length to 1-5/8" which left a threaded section of 3/8". Smoothed the cut with a file to remove all burrs.

I didn't have an acorn nut but I did have a nylok? nut (a 1/4-20 nut with a built-in plastic locking ring feature sometimes called an anti-vibration or aircraft nut).

I also didn't have the recommended spring but I did have one that was 5/16" diameter x 1" long made of 0.038" wire. It's a stiffer spring but was still easy enough to compress. Since the spring was a bit too short I added a washer to the outboard side where SteelBiker shows the acorn nut. It preloaded the spring just enough. Thinking about it now, I could have stretched that spring and left out the washer.

This is a fantastic workaround for the stuck key syndrome.
creakndale

I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT that the key is stuck but pushing the brass colored rod at the bottom of the interlock solenoid does not release it. Just to let you know, it was recently returned to us after some idiot stole it. Anyone have any ideas? I replaced the ignition lock cylinder but I can't program the new key since the key won't turn to the off position and the key is stuck.

the lock tumbler has nothing to do with any programming. thats between the key and ignition harness.

if you now have a new key and lock, you need a old key, then you can reprogram the new key. or zip tie the old key under the column.

Well that sucks since it was stolen while my wife had it warming up and the took the only key we had for it. It does run but the security light flashes for 10 minutes after start like it's going through the programming cycle. Guess we'll just deal with that and I'll yank that stupid solenoid out. Thanks.

1998 Grand Prix GTP. I had this problem happen a couple times recently. I used two zip ties to hold the button in on the bottom of the solenoid. Works perfect and didn't cost me anything to fix it.