Key is stuck in Ignition

[Mr. Incredible]

I had trouble tonight trying to shift into Park. I kept trying and trying and finally it went into Park. Now my key will not come out of the ignition. It will turn from I to II but not all the way counterclockwise so that I can remove the key. Also, I can not start it in Park. The Engine & Steering Wheel Light stay on.

Anyone else having this trouble?

Hopefully nobody will steal the car, the key is in the ignition, until I can get it back to the dealer.

[4-2NV]

Originally Posted by Bob_Parr

I had trouble tonight trying to shift into Park. I kept trying and trying and finally it went into Park. Now my key will not come out of the ignition. It will turn from I to II but not all the way counterclockwise so that I can remove the key. Also, I can not start it in Park. The Engine & Steering Wheel Light stay on.

Anyone else having this trouble?

Hopefully nobody will steal the car, the key is in the ignition, until I can get it back to the dealer.

Not sure how its designed but there may be a cable that runs from key lock to shifter that is out of joint. My big benz had that problem.

[Carnut]

Originally Posted by Bob_Parr

I had trouble tonight trying to shift into Park. I kept trying and trying and finally it went into Park. Now my key will not come out of the ignition. It will turn from I to II but not all the way counterclockwise so that I can remove the key. Also, I can not start it in Park. The Engine & Steering Wheel Light stay on.

Anyone else having this trouble?

Hopefully nobody will steal the car, the key is in the ignition, until I can get it back to the dealer.

Do a search on this site. A number of people have had this problem. Take it to your dealer ASAP.

[LIVNLTL]

There has been some talk of shift problems. A known problem, even an unofficial recall. Its all here somewhere.

[jwight]

Posted by WCOCHRAN on 6 Feb:

Here are the symptons. I cannot take the key out of the ignition. I can start it with the key, but it is stuck. When the lights are not on, the P will not light. When they are on, it is on. I can only start it in N, after I shift it from P first. When I open the doors, there is only one beep to remind me of the key in the ignition. I cannot shift into the manual mode either, the shifter will not move to the left to do this. I can put it in P, R and N after it starts. I can shift it from N to P after I get it started.So, I have to leave the key in the ignition after I shut it off and cover up the shifter and ignition with something so nobody see the key in the ignition. Then I use the second key to lock it up. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.

[SmartAzz]

When did you take delivery of your car? If it was awhile ago I thought they were supposed to notify people to have the car inspected, or, if more recently, the dealers were supposed to check for the issue during the inspection process

see thread:
Transmission Linkage "Repair"

[MinnySmart]

You know what I was just thinking.... they made a special transmission "selector" for us so that we were more "familiar with it." Is anyone else getting tired of the rest of the world dumbing things down for the US market? Is anyone else tired of stereo-typical Americans giving the rest of the world reason to think that? ANYWAY... I digress...

I'm under the impression that the rest of the world gets a different gear selector than we're getting here... The normal unit simply has a +, -, N, and R. Similar to what we test drove during the smart road show tour.

The reason I'm bringing this up...

Would we be having these problems if they had just left well-enough alone and made us adapt to the way they make the selector in all other markets? Wouldn't it have been much easier to just have a button near the ignition that you push in while turning the key like my manually motivated Maxima? Instead, they had to make a new linkage or cable or system to make the key inextractable (can we make this a word quick?) when the "gear selector" was in "American P". Guess what people are reporting issues with? Guess what's PROBABLY delaying us all from getting our smarts?

Besides, I've been hearing that the "P" isn't really a "Park" anyway... I've heard people say you're still supposed to use the parking break like a normal manual car. Ugh... it's so confusing. They try to make it easier on us by making it "familiar" to what we're used to. Shouldn't it work the same then, too?

"See... we made it look just like something you're all familiar with... but it doesn't work anything like that..." nice.


I'm so frustrated by this whole thing. C'mon Ford, GM, Toyota... bring us a car to buy... we're ready, willing, and able to hand over thousands of dollars for your smallest car idea. You could probably design, produce, and deliver by the time my smart gets 1500 miles inland from the dock at this rate (since I haven't even heard if it's being made yet, and I "reserved" 10 months ago, "ordered/configured" 3 months ago).

Time for bed... Sweet Dreams everyone!

[wahi]

I don't really know what this dinxiangata is trying to do here . Go somewhere else!

[gsp123]

I agree Minny, what is even more disturbing is the single disk dry clutch that has some type electric actuator to emulate a clutch pedal. They were to cheap to put in a fluid coupled torque converter like a normal automatic. I just found this clutch spec and for this reason I will probably cancel my order that was placed way back in early May

[JPaul]

The shifter/lock issue is not unique to the 451US. Some "European" have a similar issue. That's what I got from Smartville's spokeman. "The trick is to handle the shifter with TLC", he said. So, I'm asking myself, is this a design flaw?