2001 Regal, keys come freely out of ignition

[AL]

Brittanys Regals keys can be pulled out of the ignition at any time and its causing it so sometimes not be all the way in the off position and then in turn kills her battery... I think its the tumbler? But is that a part I can throw in or do I need a whole new key cylinder? Even when the car is running, the keys can be pulled out of the ignition, hopefully this makes sense

[RobertISaar]

been here, done that....

 

i would expect to replace the entire cylinder, but i'm not used to the newer setups.

[Mel87]

Common wear and tare, happened in my truck. I find it quite useful actually, on a cold morning start it up, take the key out and lock the door. Law says it is illegal to leave your car running unattended with the keys in the ignition is illegal... well this just defeats that now doesn't it!

[RobertISaar]

isn't there a key chime that should go off when leaving the key in any position and opening the door?

[AL]

There probably is, but she isn't the most observant person in the world lol... the radio stays on too actually... but is it hard to replace?

[RobertISaar]

http://i.imgur.com/WzOCO.png

http://i.imgur.com/jfIcB.png

 

seems easy.

[Senor PuffPuff]

It's probably the ignition lock (I think that's what it's called). It does this so that you can take the keys out when the car is running, which is helpful when you're leaving the house in the morning and you've already started your car and need to run back into the house to grab something.

 

The fix would be to make sure you turn the key all the way to off before pulling it out.

[AL]

Picked a new one up from the dealer and two new keys and installed it today... no more issue, her positive battery cable kept coming loose too so I replaced the battery cable bolt and got that fixed too, she should be in good shape for a while, with the exception of needing tires for winter

[Timm]

Common wear and tare, happened in my truck. I find it quite useful actually, on a cold morning start it up, take the key out and lock the door. Law says it is illegal to leave your car running unattended with the keys in the ignition is illegal... well this just defeats that now doesn't it!

 

Have the same upgrade on my Vue!

Love starting it up and being able to take the keys with me!

 

But I can see that's a problem with people being able to kill the battery.

[revnrob]

I used to take a vise grip and grab the key and yank it out and force it back in a few dozen times till I had this nice option on my old lifted chevy trucks , worked every time with no issues.

 

Never had any problems with this method,, wouldnt try it with my 95 GP though,,

 

I really like the option of takeing the keys out and being able to lock it up while letting the truck warm up.

[JTalley]

I can do that with all my vehicles. Makes it easier for when I need my keys while the car's running- having to run back into the house to get something after starting it up, that sort of junk.

[Starflare5]

I love this topic and the comments on it. This was actually a GM recall or service bulletin not too long ago and affected literally millions of GM vehicles that had the dash ignition. I had this issue myself with a Grand Am I had.... kind of miss it.