key wont come out of the ignition

so just recently my car dosnt turn 'off' or come out of the ignition unless i disconnect my battery anyone know whats wrong with it??

 

Is it in park?

 

did you push in on the key some?

 

Might sound stupid but are you in "park"? Key won't turn to off or come out if not in park. Also, I've read that some people would shift between gears and the key would just come out.

 

try turning the steering wheel. when i had ignition problems in my old 90 4runner i had to turn-lock the wheel to get it to work.

 

Along these lines, I would sometimes have to turn my steering wheel just about 1/2 an inch after it had locked to get the key out.

 

My guess is that it's only going to get worse. On my 4runner it got progressively worse until we had to get a completely new ignition put it.

Does it lock up when you try to start it?

 

its only gotten worse i used to just crank my wheel and it would come out but not anymore and yes it is in park.

 

i can start it just not take the key out of acc it dosnt turn to off

 

I think it has to do with some sort of censor because when i disconnect the battery it comes right out

 

To properly adjust shifter cable , put transmission in park and "REMOVE THE Ignition KEY " Just throw it on the seat until youve made the adjustment
Go under truck with wheels blocked ofcourse and remove the cable from from the transmission lever .
Grab the shift lever by hand and move it to the park position .
Go to the back of the truck and verify you cant push the truck by hand so you know the cable is in park as well as the transmission .
Now that you know the transmission is in park and the shifter is in park , adjust the cable until it fits into the hole on the shift lever .
Verify the truck will only start in park and nuetral .
The Key to proper adjustment is removing the Key

 

My t100 use to do that, i had some effed up alarm system in there that i hated lol. We disconnected most of that and i think going through the gears would do it. i don't remember for sure though?

 

reply to a thread that is 2+ years old...

I too could not turn the key to the "Lock" position from the On position. What I found, 1996 Tacoma 4WD Automatic, was that the bushing for the shifter were worn out an had broken into many, many pieces allowing for too much slop in the pivot points, two places, for the shifter. 4 bushings from the dealer, $14. It will take maybe 2 hrs to do the job and the only warning that I can give is to remove the metal center bushings(6) from the rubber isolation/seal after you remove the 6 bolts that hold the shifter plate to the trans tunnel. They have to be removed to allow you to push the rubber shield down so that you can access the lower shifter pivot nut assembly.

 

I try to remove the ignition switch from my 1998 Tacoma xcab 2.4L, I disconnect the battery, I turn the key to ACC, I fully depress the release pin but the switch only comes out about 1/4 inch and that's it. Is there some additional step or trick to get the switch out?

Thanks,
Patrick

 

Shifter bushings are toast. Replace them.

 

an explanation to KdF's reply. There is a shifter interlock located in the center console. When the shifter is pushed into park a switch is closed and this allows the lever that locks the key in the ignition cylinder to release. pushing forward on the shifter while in park overcomes the slop in the bearings and allows the switch to close. If this isnt the case then the cylinder is wore.