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Can't Turn Key to Off

T

turbojimmy

New member
Well after spending an entire weekend replacing the brake lines, my son called me from school and said he couldn't get the key out of the ignition. I went there, left him my car and took the GTP home.

A quick Google search indicates that this is a common problem. Where do I begin trouble shooting?
 


under the console at the shiftier wires one can't break.
or the lock went bad. not the tumbler the other lock. in the mean time theres a plug under the column. pull it out and push a stick inside to release the key
 
Thanks. I watched a couple of YouTube vids. I'll check the wires at the console first. I had the thing apart a couple of months ago to replace the ignition wiring harness. I wonder if I disturbed something?
 
is the steering wheel locked, meaning theres no play in it when you try and wiggle it? sometimes when you turn the wheel (engine off of course) and the steering wheel locks it also prevents the key from coming out.
 
That's what I thought initially, but it's definitely the lock solenoid not letting you turn the cylinder back. Hopefully it's just the wiring at the shifter. I don't want to have to take the steering column apart again. I don't see where you can just buy the solenoid either. Seems like you have to get the cylinder with it?
 
also check junkyards or someone selling as a parts car. the locking solenoid IIRC is a white plastic cylinder-shaped with a copper round button on one end that you push to release the key. its just the steering column cover you would need to remove, which isn't difficult. just need the right torx bit and patience not to crack the steering column cover.
 


Okay - the problem is 2 wires have come out of the connector at the shifter. One is green/white and the other is black/white. I have an alldata subscription but can't find that connector. The wires that have not come loose (I think there are 2 or 3) are pink. Does anyone have a connector face view so I know where to reinstall these wires? Anyone know what each one does. I suspect one is the foot-on-brake lockout because we also just noticed that you can put it in gear without putting your foot on the brake.
 
theres a vid on you tube where the guy re pins the wires. iirc he shows the plug. should give ya a idea where they go.
 
I ordered a Delco PT3923 pigtail and will splice that in. The existing wires are tiny and the pigtail has much beefier wires. Hopefully once I get it apart I'll be able to see where the black and green broke off. I won't be able to get to it until Wednesday. In the meantime we figured out how to reach up under the clamshell and release the key.
 
pro tip, take a straw ( if your not in CA lmao) cut it to length so its pushing the button up with the plastic plug back on. now you go on your merry way. key will release as needed till your pig tail shows up.
 
i keep a nail in that little recess to the right side of steering wheel . i knew i would find something to put in there one day lol .
 


I used a screwdriver for a while. Then zip tied it permanently up. Plastic around the steering wheel pops apart


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Okay it's fixed. I hadn't realized that the plug and wires move with the shifter. What engineer thought that was a recipe for longevity? Ridiculous. I left a lot of slack on the new pigtail for the wires to move, but not so much that it will get caught up in the mechanism. If I was smarter I'd have taken a picture for the benefit of others that stumble upon this thread. But no, I forgot.

The 2 wires that came loose were purple/white and green/white. The wires that remained were orange/black and 2 pink ones. I couldn't find a wiring diagram so I didn't know where to reattach the 2 wires that came loose. Knowing where 3 out of 5 of the wires go, I figured I had a 50-50 shot on the remaining 2. I twisted them onto the new pigtail temporarily and had guessed wrong. I reversed them and everything worked properly. I *think* the green goes in the #2 position (next to the orange/black wire) and the purple was #4 (bottom, left side of the plug as you look at it with the retaining clip facing down). But I can't remember what I had for breakfast so don't rely on that. If that doesn't work, reverse them.
 


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