Many Problems Today: All relating to key and ignition
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 883
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Many Problems Today: All relating to key and ignition
Okay Guys so here it goes. I will try to keep this short but many different things happened today and I am trying to figure out what is going on. This is a M6 C5 Z06 with 38k on the clock.
I parked the car for a few min (drove about 10 miles) and when I went back to start it up the key would not turn. It would go in but would not turn at all. Tried moving wheel and all the usual tricks and the key would not turn one bit. Called AAA.
AAA came and told me they had a locksmith who could fix it. I explained to the AAA guy that I did not know how a mobile lock guy would be able to replace the entire "assembly" (spacing out on the correct word) that the key goes into. He assured me yes so I went along with it.
Key guy gets there and was told that I only needed a new key; which was NOT the case. Anyway, for some reason he copied one side of my key onto a blank. Before he did this, just as luck would have it, he was able to get the key loose and turn it. He did NOT try to turn it on though. I wish he had though. He than copied my key onto a blank that did NOT have the VATS (correct?) chip in it. I believe by inserting this into the ignition it made the situation worse and put the car into theft mode. The key would turn freely, electronics would all turn on, but the car would NOT turn over one bit.
I called AAA again to have somebody come out to tow it. The entire time this has been going on I was able to take a peek inside the lock assembly. It looked like something was stuck but I was not sure. The driver messed with it and within a min of poking at the inside of it with a paper clip he got it to start up. Aren't there wires that sense the chip inside of the key as it passes them by? I believe this/these are what was visible inside the lock assembly.
Anyway I was able to drive it home but it now seems it's going to be a game of russian roulette in terms of driving it. I have no clue when this is going to happen again. Any of your thoughts would be great!
I parked the car for a few min (drove about 10 miles) and when I went back to start it up the key would not turn. It would go in but would not turn at all. Tried moving wheel and all the usual tricks and the key would not turn one bit. Called AAA.
AAA came and told me they had a locksmith who could fix it. I explained to the AAA guy that I did not know how a mobile lock guy would be able to replace the entire "assembly" (spacing out on the correct word) that the key goes into. He assured me yes so I went along with it.
Key guy gets there and was told that I only needed a new key; which was NOT the case. Anyway, for some reason he copied one side of my key onto a blank. Before he did this, just as luck would have it, he was able to get the key loose and turn it. He did NOT try to turn it on though. I wish he had though. He than copied my key onto a blank that did NOT have the VATS (correct?) chip in it. I believe by inserting this into the ignition it made the situation worse and put the car into theft mode. The key would turn freely, electronics would all turn on, but the car would NOT turn over one bit.
I called AAA again to have somebody come out to tow it. The entire time this has been going on I was able to take a peek inside the lock assembly. It looked like something was stuck but I was not sure. The driver messed with it and within a min of poking at the inside of it with a paper clip he got it to start up. Aren't there wires that sense the chip inside of the key as it passes them by? I believe this/these are what was visible inside the lock assembly.
Anyway I was able to drive it home but it now seems it's going to be a game of russian roulette in terms of driving it. I have no clue when this is going to happen again. Any of your thoughts would be great!
Last edited by znewts; Jun 30, 2009 at 02:32 AM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 19,472
Likes: 1,171
From: Dyer, IN
Okay Guys so here it goes. I will try to keep this short but many different things happened today and I am trying to figure out what is going on. This is a M6 C5 Z06 with 38k on the clock.
I parked the car for a few min (drove about 10 miles) and when I went back to start it up the key would not turn. It would go in but would not turn at all. Tried moving wheel and all the usual tricks and the key would not turn one bit. Called AAA.
AAA came and told me they had a locksmith who could fix it. I explained to the AAA guy that I did not know how a mobile lock guy would be able to replace the entire "assembly" (spacing out on the correct word) that the key goes into. He assured me yes so I went along with it.
Key guy gets there and was told that I only needed a new key; which was NOT the case. Anyway, for some reason he copied one side of my key onto a blank. Before he did this, just as luck would have it, he was able to get the key loose and turn it. He did NOT try to turn it on though. I wish he had though. He than copied my key onto a blank that did NOT have the VATS (correct?) chip in it. I believe by inserting this into the ignition it made the situation worse and put the car into theft mode. The key would turn freely, electronics would all turn on, but the car would NOT turn over one bit.
I called AAA again to have somebody come out to tow it. The entire time this has been going on I was able to take a peek inside the lock assembly. It looked like something was stuck but I was not sure. The driver messed with it and within a min of poking at the inside of it with a paper clip he got it to start up. Aren't there wires that sense the chip inside of the key as it passes them by? I believe this/these are what was visible inside the lock assembly.
Anyway I was able to drive it home but it now seems it's going to be a game of russian roulette in terms of driving it. I have no clue when this is going to happen again. Any of your thoughts would be great!
I parked the car for a few min (drove about 10 miles) and when I went back to start it up the key would not turn. It would go in but would not turn at all. Tried moving wheel and all the usual tricks and the key would not turn one bit. Called AAA.
AAA came and told me they had a locksmith who could fix it. I explained to the AAA guy that I did not know how a mobile lock guy would be able to replace the entire "assembly" (spacing out on the correct word) that the key goes into. He assured me yes so I went along with it.
Key guy gets there and was told that I only needed a new key; which was NOT the case. Anyway, for some reason he copied one side of my key onto a blank. Before he did this, just as luck would have it, he was able to get the key loose and turn it. He did NOT try to turn it on though. I wish he had though. He than copied my key onto a blank that did NOT have the VATS (correct?) chip in it. I believe by inserting this into the ignition it made the situation worse and put the car into theft mode. The key would turn freely, electronics would all turn on, but the car would NOT turn over one bit.
I called AAA again to have somebody come out to tow it. The entire time this has been going on I was able to take a peek inside the lock assembly. It looked like something was stuck but I was not sure. The driver messed with it and within a min of poking at the inside of it with a paper clip he got it to start up. Aren't there wires that sense the chip inside of the key as it passes them by? I believe this/these are what was visible inside the lock assembly.
Anyway I was able to drive it home but it now seems it's going to be a game of russian roulette in terms of driving it. I have no clue when this is going to happen again. Any of your thoughts would be great!
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
The problem is most likely the ignition key cylinder and most likely NOT the switch portion of the ignition switch/lock assay;
Switch with lock cylinder removed:
This is the entire lock/switch/sensor assay:
The metal can on the end of the cylinder is the VATS sensor that reads the pellet. Yes, there are two small silver plated fingers that contact the resistor chip. I'm not sure if you can replace that sensor. I know that you can purchase a new cylinder. The service manual goes into detail on how to re-key that cylinder.
The lock cylinder & the sensor should rotate with the key. Se if you can determine which one is binding up. If you remove the lock cylinder from the switch assay, you can use a screwdriver to cycle the switch portion of the ignition switch through ALL of its positions.
I would call Gene Culley and see what he has available for lock cylinder and or sensor replacement parts. www.gmpartshouse.com
Let me know what you find out
Switch with lock cylinder removed:
This is the entire lock/switch/sensor assay:
The metal can on the end of the cylinder is the VATS sensor that reads the pellet. Yes, there are two small silver plated fingers that contact the resistor chip. I'm not sure if you can replace that sensor. I know that you can purchase a new cylinder. The service manual goes into detail on how to re-key that cylinder.
The lock cylinder & the sensor should rotate with the key. Se if you can determine which one is binding up. If you remove the lock cylinder from the switch assay, you can use a screwdriver to cycle the switch portion of the ignition switch through ALL of its positions.
I would call Gene Culley and see what he has available for lock cylinder and or sensor replacement parts. www.gmpartshouse.com
Let me know what you find out
