Bought a used Equinox a couple months ago. Its running great, no complaints. But the other day while I was stopped at a redlight, I reached down and tried to detach a key from my key ring. And the key in the ignition came right out. Car just kept running never missing a beat. When I got home, I decided to try another key in the ignition, and only putting the tip of my house key I could start the vehicle. Im wondering if this car was stolen and it has another ignition in it. I bought it at a used car dealer.
A car question....
- Thread starter FTWWTF
- Start date
It certainly sounds like the ignition switch has been tampered with. Maybe the dealer received the car without the keys, so he removed all the tumblers so that any key will start the car.
First of all if the key cylinder comes out that is not a good sign. In the last 10 years car ignitions also have to have a signal from a chip in the key to start. Maybe even that has been tampered with and bypassed.
Did you buy this car from a reputable dealer? Check the car serial numbers, you should find it on a plate in the windshield at the driver side lower corner. It is also on a sticker on the door post behind the drivers seat and in the engine compartment either on the front of the engine compartment or sometimes on the firewall in the back of the engine compartment. They should all match.
You never mentioned how old the Equinox is. My first car was an '81 Chevy Malibu, 12 years old at the time, and the key came out of the ignition in any position. It's not a rare occurrence, but it is worth double checking if there is anything untowards about your Equinox' past.
https://www.carproof.com/
Might help. I have not used one of those services but apparently gives a full history on the car
Might help. I have not used one of those services but apparently gives a full history on the car
The old GMs were all like that.
It was the key itself that would wear. With all the thousands of in and out movements of the ignition key, the profile on the key got ground down. If you had used the spare set, the problems would not have occurred.
Did you read "I decided to try another key in the ignition, and only putting the tip of my house key I could start the vehicle". He has a different problem than the wear problem.
FTWWTF - take the JTK's comments with a grain of salt, he dislikes all things GM and continues to live in the past. ;-)
People incorrectly state that GM uniquely had a wear problem with the keys. It's not really the truth as this problem was with almost all manufacturers, especially with select aftermarket blanks. The problem is that all old-style keys will wear with time with the tip wearing faster than the part near the key-chain. Also, when people get a key copied, you are in essence copying a worn key and combine this with an imperfect copying process make the duplicate less accurate and you can run into ignition cylinder problems. James is right about the spare keys, if they aren't well used, there is a higher probability they would work for the wear problem - which isn't your problem.
Almost all manufacturers pre 2005-2010 recommended that if your car had 50K miles or more on it and if you needed a key cut, go to your local dealer and they'd cut a new key from the spec. In the real world, not many people had problems, but GM (and other manufacturers) would take heat unfairly. Modern keys use different techniques to get around this problem - compare an old key to a new key and you will see.
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it could be. Specially If it was stolen, it could've been used in a robbery or any other crime.
I know a few people with older Equinoxs and the cars were known for "stuck key" problems from approximately 2006 to 2012, specially:
1) the key could be inserted into the ignition, but it could not be turned because the ignition lock cylinder was really stiff, and/or
2) The engine would start then cut-out, and/or
3) The key could not be removed from the ignition lock cylinder
The solution was to replace the ignition lock cylinder. If I recall correctly the repair cost was around $500 at the dealer. Normally in a non-security chip car this was a relatively easy job and you wouldn't normally see any follow-on problems. If you google this problem, you will see 1000s of hits.
I'm guessing:
1) It's possible someone performed the repair and screwed up. That said, I can't see how another key would be able to turn the ignition, so I think this is less likely the fault.
2) What I think happened is that someone experienced the stuck ignition lock cylinder problem, perhaps didn't want to pay the $500, so they intentionally damaged the inside of the cylinder and now any key will work
3) The car was stolen and the thief damaged the inside of the cylinder and now any key will work
Did you but the car from a dealer or a private individual? Did you get a carfax? If you bought it from a dealer and you are within 90 days (60 days?) this repair would be covered under the certification.
BTW, the Equinox is a good car. Everyone I know that has one, loves it. Good luck with the repair, please let us know what happens.
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In these days of subcontracting it's no surprise the find parts by the same manufacturer in different brand cars. My old Chrysler's ignition hasn't 'locked' for a couple of years; key can be removed with the switch in any position, without any effect on engine or electrics. Same is true of the seldom-used spare key. Haven't checked the valet keys, but that suggests that the wear (which is the likliest cause) is in the lock cylinder, not just the key. I'm not about to experiment with taking the chipped ignition key out of RFID range to see if that function is also defective.
I don't see it as a problem to be fixed, but the OP's got a dealer/warranty issue.
I don't see it as a problem to be fixed, but the OP's got a dealer/warranty issue.
It sounds like you bought the car from a used car lot, not a private individual or from an auto-manufacturer used car lot? Did the dealer safety certify the car and did you receive a Used Vehicle Information Package? The gov't mandated Used Vehicle Information Package is fairly limited compared to a Carfax or CarProof report, but I guess it's better than nothing.
If it was certified, the dealer must warranty the certification-specific components for 90 days. However, I looked through the requirements for the safety certification inspection and surprisingly, it doesn't list the ignition as an inspected component, even is the just released updates.
So, I guess you are lucky that the dealer is stepping up and performing the repair. Kudos to the dealer!
If it was certified, the dealer must warranty the certification-specific components for 90 days. However, I looked through the requirements for the safety certification inspection and surprisingly, it doesn't list the ignition as an inspected component, even is the just released updates.
So, I guess you are lucky that the dealer is stepping up and performing the repair. Kudos to the dealer!
