Here’s How to Remove Stuck Car Key from the Ignition

One of the biggest fears that any driver has is the fear of getting stuck behind the wheel be it due to any of the reasons. Getting stuck in the car due to the key being stuck could have many reasons, it could be an aftermarket key or maybe a fault with the ignition system. What becomes important in this situation is to analyze the problem. If you are able to analyze the problem than the way out is easy and efficient, added to the fact that the problem will not add to further damages to the system. Here are a few ways of how to remove a stuck car key from ignition:

1-  CAR IN PARKING GEAR –

In case of an Automatic Transmission, if your car key is stuck in the ignition way, check if the car is in the parking gear. If the car is in any other gear, say Drive, Reverse or Neutral, the car key might not come out and will remain stuck in the key-way.

2- POWER OFF –

The first thing that you need to check when stuck in a situation like this is that is the car properly turned off. This might look to be a very banal approach, but most of the time it has been seen that the drivers get frustrated if the keys don’t come out only to find that the car was not properly turned off. This problem will only arise with conventional cars, the cars with the Push START-STOP will not face such a problem. Most of the time the drives don’t rotate the ignition block completely when in a hurry, and that leads to the key getting stuck. If this doesn’t seem to be the problem then the next one might help.

3- STEERING WHEEL LOCK –

It is not always necessary that if your key has got stuck in the ignition it is to do with the car’s ignition system only, it can also be the components of the car that hinder the movement. The Steering wheel is one such component. Steering Wheel’s basic work is to steer the car but safety is also a part of the car’s ignition system. This is to make sure that the car is not steered or moved when the ignition is turned off, or the car is not operated when the car key is wrongly inserted. To sort this problem, slowly try to rotate your steering wheel left and right while simultaneously applying little pressure to your stuck key. Ideally, this will help you to remove your key stuck in the ignition system.

4- BROKEN KEY –

The possibility of the key breaking inside your ignition will always persist, and can lead to the key getting stuck. This can happen due to multiple reasons, but what is more important to handle this situation with the most delicacy that you might have in you, to ensure there are no further damages. In this case, you will have to delicately take the key out, in case you are able to extract the bits and pieces of your car keys, then it is recommended to get the lock examined by a locksmith, to ensure no further damage to the spare key or the ignition cylinder.

5- IGNITION CYLINDER –

To find that the problem is with the ignition system is way harder to know when compared to the above three listed ways. This is because the car key is still stuck and you will be in two minds. To know exactly what the ignition cylinder is the problem is only be ensuring that you have tried the above-listed points, and eliminated all probabilities of the key being the problem. This information might not seem much, but this seems to be the only way to find such a problem.

The above conditions are the ones that can lead to the car getting stuck in the ignition key channel. The important aspect here is that the driver should not panic or get frustrated. In case the driver panics or gets frustrated, then the problem may lead to further damages that will lead to wastage of time and money, as there might be chances of the part being replaced. So, in case the car key gets stuck, just follow the above steps, this will surely help.