WTF just happened? My truck bent my key, truck won’t turn

You can't see the movie that way...

 

making one of your own aint so bad..

 

Could be the key. I had a Chevy Celebrity in college and the key would pull back out. One day I used my spare ignition key and it didn't happen, I immediately tried with the original key and it backed out again.

In the midst of a similar issue with my truck where the passenger lock cylinder won't turn with my key but using the backup key works, time to get a copy of the backup made.

This happened to another car I had in college, fortunately the trunk lock. Alcohol and cold weather didn't help..I just replaced the cylinder.

My wife's old Rav4 key broke in half one day and she called me frantically from work. No fob on that one so she had no way to get in the vehicle. I show up expecting a nightmare with her spare key, open the door and was thrilled to see another piece of the key on the floor. Linked up perfect with the piece on her keyring so no fishing around for anything.

 

5 year old thread revival.

 

Why did she prefer your key?

 

Well, it just happened again, at the same intersection/turn. This time my memory stayed solid: At about the same instant, the ignition lock turned itself from the RUN to the LOCK position, locking the steering wheel and shutting off the engine, mid-turn. There was a clack noise from the steering column and the key-chain made a jingling sound as if struck by something.

After the car came to a stop on the lawn, I saw that the key was not only bent worse than the last time, it was also half-ejected from the lock. It was bent in multiple places to where I could not reinsert the key without bending it straight with my hand while still partially in the lock, pushing it inward, bending it in the lock again, pushing further inward, etc., until the key was all the way in, allowing me to restart the car and drive off.

I have dismantled the steering column covers and removed the ignition lock but found nothing askew. A magnifier revealed that the key has a dent on top of one of its "hills" that mate with the lock's tumbler pins. I suspect that something slammed the ignition lock back to the LOCK position and the force against the ignition lock's detent transferred to the tumbler pins, denting the key, deforming it and partially ejecting it. What that force was is still a mystery.

To take it apart further will require much dismantling; my better/more enthusiastic car-repair days are behind me, but if I don't solve this, I suspect the average mechanic will simply bleed me of my money in exchange for his unexplainable guesses, leaving me as his guinea pig in a death car. If I learn something, I will report back here.

 

The key antics would explain the initial: "no turn to the right" failure: It killed/shut off the engine, which in turn killed the power steering. Ever try to turn the wheel with power steering when the engine is off? You can to it, but you practically need to be an Olympic Gold Medalist weight lifter to do it.

If it was me: I would throw out that problem key, use the spare for a while, see how it goes and proceed from there. (Short trips.) If the problem(s) stop/never return, buy a new spare for extra and call it a day. I personally would never use that problem key again.

 

Use the spare but try just using that key, not the whole keyring. See if it matters..it might be the weight of the other stuff shifting things?

 

For clarity, I did make the right turn--during it, the steering wheel locked SOLID due to the ignition lock being turned to the "LOCK" position (not just 'engine off'), just as if you were leaving the car. This was not a power steering loss.

The weight of the key-chain (4.6 ounces) is not nearly enough to move the ignition lock all the way back to the LOCK position in this car.

 

A bent key will not fit all the way in it probably locked the cylinder hence the steering.

 

In both of these cases there is an extraordinary number of extra things hanging off the keychain. This has always been bad for ignition key cylinders. Car key, house key, key fob, that's all you should have. Get another keychain for all that other crap, don't hang it off the ignition. Not saying that bent the key, but it may have contributed to the issue.

 

My wife has done something similar in two different vehicles.

At least twice a year, I TAKE HER KEYS, REMOVE ALL THE FARKLY CRAP THAT IS NOT A KEY AND THROW IT IN THE TRASH.

 

@maineah I drove 7 miles with a straight key. Then the steering wheel locked up during a turn. After stopping the car, I looked down and the key was bent in multiple places. The steering wheel locks only when the key is turned all the way back to the "LOCK" position.

@TenBeers I hear what you're saying, but 4.6 oz is small and I've had most of that on the key-chain for 15 years--the ignition lock is not loose. Even if the weight caused it to turn the ignition lock, it should only have shut the motor off/locked the steering, not bent/ejected the ignition key. I can't test your theory though because I've stopped driving the car and will tear it apart soon. ...Your Mediocretes quote is hilarious.

@FishaRnekEd I am not married so I must persist this way.

 

HA HA!!!!! my key ended up looking exactly like yours one day. No idea how it happened, but stuck it in my bench vice and squeezed it back without breaking it. Still running it today!

 

A minor update: It happened again several months ago, this time at low/no acceleration. Before then, I replaced the electrical ignition switch, which is responsible for most of the "friction" of the lock cylinder that keeps the cylinder from turning unless extra hand force is applied to the key. Before then, I also had a locksmith make a new key from the ignition lock's key code and have been using it ever since.

So, those two possibilities are ruled out, as is any "keychain momentum theory", as I was probably doing 5 mph when it occurred this last time. The steering column's housing/covers were removed at the time, so I don't think the keychain could get wedged between the steering wheel and its column either.

Ever since then, I've been using the locksmith's new key rotated 180 degrees opposite of the way it was during the last incident (the car accepts the key either way). It hasn't reoccurred, but I honestly don't think that has anything to do with it. Time will tell as I will keep experimenting.

Oh, I also paid a mechanic to inspect the steering chassis under the hood, but they didn't find anything amiss.

 

This would be a great call into car talk, wish they were still around.

 

I think it would be better on "car shout" at this point...

 

I love Click and Clack Tappet, local boys. Definitely a good few books by them too

 

Oh, another side point: This car has a automatic transmission shifter that's in the floor's center console. There is an electromechanical interlock that prevents the ignition/key lock from being turned all the way back to OFF, unless the transmission is in park.

About 15 years ago, that system failed. I can't remember whether the part was expensive, unavailable and/or difficult to replace, but I rigged it so the lock could be turned to any position at any time, even all the way to OFF when the car is in drive. So THAT is why the steering wheel locked in those previous incidents.

Granted, I still don't know why the ignition/key lock turns itself in the first place (killing the engine), but the steering wheel no longer locks when this does occur during right turns, ever since I removed my jury-rigging.

I don't know whether this is enlightening, but I figured I had better mention it.