Key wont come out of ignition lock

[gozza]

Hi ive been having trouble getting the key out of the ignition lock for a while its been tempremtal for some time needing considerable persuation to come out, but now it refuses to budge. when the gear shift is in P the buton on top of the leaver does not feel as if it does anything and I cant hear the sound I had before and the key refuses to release. Any Ideas as to what is wrong please. The shift lock does not seam to work either as I can put it into gear without having to depress the brake first! Sounds expensive

[alan]

sorry i have no idea but try posting this agin in the thchie stuff or wiat see if a mod can move it there for you

[New Forest Terrier]

Had a version of this problem before Christmas. It started when the Bongo refused to start in Lidls car park. The gear lever button that allows you to get it out of park was stuck and the Bongo, convinced it was in gear was doing absolutely nothing. RAC man turned up gave it a thump on the side of the gear lever which persuaded it that it was actually in park. The problem seemed solved but on getting home the key could not be removed.

The cause of this was that the ignition, park button on gear stick and and parking brake are linked via a cable. This is probably either displaced or damaged at the gear lever or ignition end. It is totally mechanical on my 95, cable pulls levers. If this is not pulling the correct bits Bongo will not start, thinking it is in gear rather than park or it will not allow the key out of the ignition.

To get at the gear lever end take of the center console and then you can see the underside of the gear lever. There are two cables, thick one on the passenger side for the gear change, thin one on the drivers side. This is the one to the ignition which is the cable causing all the trouble. It ends in two levers, the top one is connected to the button that releases the gear lever. Pull this lever and in my case normal service was restored, until it jammed again. To get better access there is a trianglar panel in the drivers footwell that can be pulled off to give a fuller view of the connections at the gear lever end.

Sorting the at cable will cure the problem. If the cable is damaged the Bongo runs fine without it, just no automatic handbrake in park.

In my case the cable was snagging somewhere along its length and the cure was a second hand cable as replacement. I also started using the spare Bongo ignition key as the original was very worn.

[gozza]

Many thanks I will have a look at the cables and hope it sorts the problem

[gozza]

Have tried all the cables from the gear shift and all seem to be working ok but still key wont come out of ignition lock! It goes to the ACC position but not to the lock position so that I can remove it! Any more sugestion very welcome.

[mountainmummy]

Hi

I'm not sure if this will help but you could try some graphite lock lube. This worked a treat for us when we couln't get the key into our avensis.

As your key is already in and won't come out might not help.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Sara

[gozza]

Thanks anything is worth a try

[New Forest Terrier]

WD40 is quite good for stuck keys and jammed locks, but that is so obvious that I am sure that you have already tried it. Could be a fault with the lock itself, with something preventing the key turning to the correct position to remove it.

[Ian]

Last year at the Hastings meet, Cath had the same problem. It was eventually solved by repeatedly pressing the brake pedal and moving the steering wheel from side to side.

[gozza]

Eventualy found that the screw holding the outer cable clamp under the ignition switch had come out allowing the end of the cable to detach from its position, all back together now works just fine. many thanks for all the sugestions

[Gixermark]

Blimey ....30th January was the original post re this problem ....sorted the 18th August!

Long time to leave the key in the lock, eh!

Glad you got it sorted in the end ....