08equi

my key gets stuck in the ignition and sometimes it takes as long as 20 minutes for it to come out. in reading various threads, i have read the problem parts are the gear shift, shifter switch, ignition switch, shift sensor, and the park/neutral switch which is part of the transmission control module on 2007-2009. my question is, after hearing all of these complaints, is there an order to which parts i should have changed first? i have a 2008 equinox with about 50,000 miles. thank you. the vehicle is out of warranty. i would really like to hear from chevrolet on this.

Chevrolet Customer Service

Hello,

We're sorry that you're having problems with your ignition. I am not a technician, and thus am unable to advise you on repairing your vehicle yourself. We rely on the dealerships to diagnose and repair any present vehicle concerns. We understand that you may be outside of your vehicle warranty, but if you were interested in having this issue checked at the dealership, we would be happy to reach out to your dealer for you. We can also do further research on this specific concern to see if there are any recalls or bulletins addressing this issue. If you would like for additional assistance please PM us your VIN.

Thank you

Amber N.
Chevrolet Customer Care

jnewton

In the winter (3rd in a row), I cannot get my key out of the ignition of my Chevy Equinox LT. I have to leave the car running for 5-15 minutes, and then the key will come out. I have read this to be a typical problem with many Equinox owners (defective shift sensor, or defective switch at the sensor?). My Veh Serial # is 2CNALDEW3A6275687. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Can you help me coordinate with McCluskey Chevrolet, or similar dealership to get this condition serviced? I don't want to spend a ton of money diagnosing a manufacturers defect that has been evaluated quite a bit already.

in2pro

jnewton Welcome to the forum..
Hopefully Chevrolet Customer Service will get back too you soon, but with the holidays it might take a day or so...
You can also private message them all of your information, click on Chevrolet Customer Service's name and in the drop down menu send private message will appear... you can then send them a message with your full name and contact info...

therewolf

Merry Christmas everyone, prosperos Anos e felicidad.

An update, since our local mechanic removed the lockout

solenoid between the transmission and the ignition lock cylinder,

(now a couple years ago)

my daughter still has her car, no more key issues, and she couldn't

be happier. This lockout is only designed to keep the transmission from

shifting into gear while the engine is off, a well meant, but poorly

conceived and built concept by GM, which has caused much more

hate and aggravation, than safety.

jnewton

It's too bad Chevrolet hasn't identified what the true defect is, with so many vehicles experiencing the same issue, and properly addressed it with the customers. I took my car into the dealership. Unfortunately, Chevrolet Customer Service did not discuss with the dealership what the defect has been in the past. So the dealership replaced the key cylinder, and $301 later, 2 days later, I cannot get the key out of the cylinder.

confused

06-09 use a Saturn ignition lock they are known for eating keys because of the key buzzer actuator

LSchmitz

I bought this car used two years ago (2007 Equinox) and had this problem within 2 weeks. I finally took it to the dealer, and they told me I needed a new "ignition" - $300 later, still having the same problem. This is prevalent with certain Chevy models, and yet the dealers are no help and Chevy takes NO responsibility. A recent thread I saw said to remove a celunoid that was intended to be a safety feature, but clearly is NOT effective. That's my next step. It wouldn't be so bad, but the problem is not isolated and I have to pay for the fix - this is just bad business and bad customer service. This will be my first and LAST Chevy.

dondude

we have had a key that wont turn for quite some time now but have just been living with it but it is getting worse. if we jiggled the key enough it would eventually turn. i have found the solution. first of all do NOT change you lock cylinder. there is probably nothing wrong with it. our key was severly worn so we took it to our local ace hardware store and had a key made but it didnt help because all you are doing is making a new key from a bad key. i thought it was the lock cylinder too so i went and bought a new one and tried to remove the old one but i could never get it out so i gave up. i finally took it to the dealership after trying for three hours to remove the cylinder. believe it or not it was the best thing i ever did. they called me back and said there is nothing wrong with your lock cylinder WHAT! he said its your KEY! i couldnt believe it but it fixed the problem. you have to go to the dealership and they can make a key that is factory coded to your car. i couldnt believe what a difference how the new key looked. the new key works perfectly now. the best $130.00 dollars i ever spent. i dont think the new lock cylinder would have even fixed the problem! i wish i had done this first. it worked for us

Armydude2006

Ok I have a 2007 Chevy HHR my key would not come out of the ignition. I was told by the dealership it would cost a few hundred dollars to fix, there was a recall but like always my car was not included in this recall (go figure). I took matters into my own hands and bought a new shifter assembly, was not long before I was working on. My car. After taking the old assembly out, I seen that there is a metal bar that is supposed to hit an actuator that tells your car that it is in park, I did not need the new assembly, I just had to straighten that metal bar and it works just fine. I still put the new assembly in and kept the old one to do some trial and error to Create my own fix for the problem since Chevy won't fix it for me. If you live in the Kentucky or Tennessee area send me a message and I can help you out with fixing it. Don't spend the hundreds of dollars for new parts when it only takes a minor adjustment to fix the problem. I will try and post a video of how to do the entire repair it took me about an hour and a half to do this.