Ok, this is focking weird. I went to turn my car off and the key is stuck in the ignition. It only goes to 1, and wont go to 0 (lock), and the steering wheel is locked. I can turn my car on and off and lock it with the remote and all that but the damn key wont come out. What could be causing this?

 

try moving the steering wheel and the key at the same time sideways? should unlock.

 

Even though the wheel is locked, try to turn it a little more and turn the key at the same time.

 

I tried, believe me I tried. Im used to getting it to unlock when I curb my tires and then put the key in and its locked. But this is different. I tried every twist and jiggle you can imagine. Its when I turn the car off, not when im trying to turn it on.

I called my local nissan dealer to see if I could talk to a tech. The guy who answered in the service dept said he was a master tech and decided my ignition was definately broken and if i wanted to bring my car in on monday they would look at it...for 90 dollars. I hung up on him. Im so ****ed off right now.

 

Stupid question but here goes, if you are auto, did you put the car in park?

 

this happened on my friend's daewoo. About two months later it eventually came out.

 

Heh...I did a 5spd conversion so no im not auto anymore (see sig). Its exactly like like when you leave it in drive in an auto and then try to take the key out though.

 

lol. i want my key back I gotta park this car in some ghetto areas around LA, I cant leave my key in the ignition.

 

cover the dash area with a towel for now.

 

Maybe it has something to do with the 5spd conversion....maybe your ECU is doing something weird and thinks that it is still an auto...and that it is in drive or something like that.

My .02

 

damn, do you think taking it to the nissan dealership would work?

 

i doubt it. I believe the key is held in mechanically, not by the ECU

 

Yeah i was thinking about that. I dont see why it would do that though. Ive never heard anything like that happening. I tried reseting the ecu and checking the fuses but no luck (i thought it might be a fuse because when you dont have one for the brake light in, you cant turn the key to turn the car on).

 

Break it off as far down as possible so it doesnt look like the key is in there.

 

Since you converted from an auto to a manual, your car is looking for an indication that you have put your car in park.

I know this is for a 2002 - 03 but they feature a shift lock mechanism. I can email a picture. For some reason, I can't post it.

 

I dont really think it is a problem with the conversion. Ive had that done for a long time and i dont think anyone has ever had this problem using the auto ecu.

What about the shift lock mechanism? I dont understand. you have a PM.

 

The mechanism has nothing to do with ECU if I understand it correctly. Its a mechanical thing with the ignition key tumbler.

 

Thanks man got it!!! Thank you so much. I havent properly attached my momo boot yet so it hangs down and it must have got caught and pulled the lever. Either that or having my suspension set so stiff might have jiggled it out of place. Thanks again!

 

I dont know about the 5th gen, but in my 3rd gen it happens sometimes and then i have to pry and take off the circle plastic trim piece around the ignition and then push in a little red button. I bet its similar in newer cars and if there is no trim piece around ingnition, you can try to get there by unscrewing the trim under the steering wheel.

 

I'm glad you got it fixed. Make sure to secure the shift lock in the console with something sturdy so it doesn't happen again.

PEACE!

 

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hopefully a little insight of whats to come for a future swapper?