Honda - Accord :: 2009 - Steering Wheel / Shift Lever And Ignition Key Lock Are All Locked Up
Jan 26, 2014
I own a Honda 2009 Accord EXL with about 25,000 miles. Over the last 5 years a problem has occurred randomly (at least 8 times) and up to last week I was able to over come it. The problem is: when attempting to start the car you find that the steering wheel, shift lever, and ignition key lock are all "locked" up. Nothing can be moved or turned. Thus you can not start or move the car. Up until last week I would jiggle the steering wheel or the shift lever and it would unlock. I took it to the Honda dealer after the first few times and they all but laughed at me . Then last week nothing I did could to get the devices unlocked.
I called the local dealer and he advised having it towed in, which I did. When the tow truck driver arrived he showed me the hidden compartment next to the shift lever and inserted the key. This did unlock the steering wheel sufficiently that we could get the car aligned with the tow truck. And I was able to insert the key and start the engine. But when I attempted to shift the car it acted as if it remained in neutral. In other words the engine roared but no motion no matter which gear I selected. We managed to get the car onto the tow truck and delivered to the dealer. Of course when the dealer looked at it, all was well no problem.
The dealer kept the car and "went over everything" and "found nothing wrong". They said they "have never experienced" this problem before and their home office confirmed that. The Dealer's solution: If you park the car, shift to Park, and turn it off and then turn the steering wheel counterclockwise hard, a click is heard and the whole car is locked up. The dealer showed me that by pushing hard on the brake, forcibly turning the wheel, and at the same time playing with the ignition key with a little luck it all unlocks. (Notice he did not indicate using the hidden compartment trick.)
I find it strange that the dealer has "never ever experienced this issue", yet has a "work around"!! Though I must admit it does work when you purposely "lock" the steering wheel (the random act has not occurred again so far). My question : is there some fault to the electronic (or other) sub systems which should be fixed? I just hate to have my wife out alone and run into the situation again.
View 2 Replies
Advertisement
2000 Honda Accord - will go to put the key into the ignition, key slips right in, but will not turn. The steering wheel is locked. This has been happening intermittently for a few months with no improvement. Sometime it will take me 10-30 minutes of wiggling the key, turning the steering wheel, etc until the steering wheel unlocks and key turns in the ignition. My patience is wearing and I'm concerned that it will eventually get to the point where it won't turn at all! I've tried with an alternate key and same results.
View 11 Replies
I easily removed the key lock cylinder but when I went to put the new one in I cannot get it to turn all the way back to lock the pin in place. The steering wheel is not in the locked position nor can I get it to lock. I have turned the steering wheel as far left and right as I could go with no success on getting it to lock or on getting the ignition key lock cylinder to turn back securing the actuator pin. The old key lock cylinder won't go back in either. What am I doing wrong?
View 3 Replies
My 2004 Accent is stuck in the "lock" position in the ignition, and the wheel is locked and barely turns in either direction. I know this is supposed to be an anti-theft feature and I've tried all of the solutions listed here...
Turning the wheel hard and soft in either direction while holding the brake all the way down and trying to turn the key. Putting the car in neutral and then park and trying the above Disconnecting the battery for a few minutes and trying the above Jacking the car up on one side to release the tension on the pin.
My question is can I remove the spring at the bottom of the locking pin by drilling a hole in the center of the plate? I've seen a few youtube videos of this done on BMW's. It will cost me $500 minimum to replace the ignition or steering column based on quotes I got.
View 10 Replies
My steering wheel and ignition locked up 2 days ago. I tried turning the wheel and the ignition at the same time, tried the brakes, tried shifting gears and anything else i could think of. I think the problem might be with the ignition coils, or multiple ones, but i have bypassed that by hot-wiring the car(which was a pain because of all the anti-theft features).
So I have the car running now and it is almost drivable except the steering wheel is locked up. I need to know how to fix this, i have read plenty on it and i think i can break a pin that locks the steering wheel to make it work, but i don't know where this pin is(might be behind the ignitions, or attached to it somewhere). if i could do this without breaking anything that would be great, but if the car will run, I am ok with it begin broken, because i already hot-wired it so I'm not worried about breaking anything unless it will make the car not run.
View 4 Replies
Went to start my car today but couldn't move my steering wheel at all??
Ignition still works and i can turn my keys but not the wheel?
View 4 Replies
So this happened 2 times before, I am sure it is something I am doing and not the car.
So i just parked and turned off my car, and i noticed i left my windows up, so i tried to turn the car back on but the ignition would not turn and steering wheel would not move. I pressed harder and harder but it still was locked. My bro told me that same happened to his Civic and to unlock it you have to press on break hard and ignition would unlock, i tried that but nothing happened.
I googled and read online to insert the key into the ignition, try turning the car on and at the same time turn the wheel side to side. I did it and the car unlocked. My question is this, why did it lack in the first place, has this ever happened to you, if so how did you unlock it.
View 10 Replies
I have a 2008 RX 350 and I am experiencing issues with turning the key ignition and having the steering wheel locked. It gets locked and after several attempts at jimmying the key it eventually starts. My concern is that if I keep this practice up I will damage my key. I have addressed this issue to the dealership and I was naive and trusted them with fixing the problem with my last maintenance visit. Thinking the the problem was solved I started to experience the same problem again. I was first told that it is possible the my key chains are too heavy which could of caused the problem but I lightened the load and still have this problem. I've read about this problem with other people but there doesn't seem to be a solution.
One thing I have noticed is that I tend to experience this problem during the cold weather. During warmer weathers I don't have issues with the key ignition being locked but now that it's cold I am having the problem again (not sure if this has to do with anything). Do I need to change a part out to fix this? I've also read that there can be dirt in the ignition which needs to be cleaned out. Will this work and if so how do I do clean it?
View 1 Replies
I have a 1983 Mercedes 380 SL and the ignition key will not turn; the steering wheel will not release the key and I am at a loss as to what to do further than: tapping the ignition cartridge with a hammer, inserting key, tapping it, then trying. Nothing seems to even feel remotely like the key is attempting to work. I have heard it is best NOT to use WD-40 in the lock.
View 4 Replies
I have 2009 Honda Accord with approximately 66,000 miles (I drive 70 miles r/t to work every day). I had service done on my car the other day to get the front brake rotors replaced and four new tires. Upon receiving my car and driving to Boston the car began to shake at highway speeds (50+). I took it back to the mechanic and they re-balanced the tires. I drove to work the next day and the car still shakes (albeit now at 60+). Today the mechanic rotated the tires in case there was a bent rim in the front causing this. However, on my drive today the car still shakes (though it's not as violent or noticeable as the trip to Boston).
View 10 Replies
I have a 2003 Honda Accord. I've had an issue with steering wheel vibration for the past 10 months. In that time, I've installed new hubcentric rings for my after market wheels, gotten my tires balanced, bought a whole new set of tires all together, and changed my cv axles twice. I still experience vibration in the steering wheel when I get up to 60 mph and all the way up to 80 mph. At times I have had vibration at low speeds, around 20 mph, but that was solved first when I installed the hubcentric rings, and again most recently with this second set of cv axles. Am I missing something or will I have to chase a solution to this problem until I am bankrupt?
View 2 Replies
I have a problem with vibration in steering wheel and at speeds of 50 to 60 mph. It also vibrates at idle. This problem did not start until we had new brakes and rotors turn. We also have had tires rotated and balance. They told us we needed new motor mounts. We had them replace and the shake got worse. They replaced the front axles and the transmission mount. I also bought two new tires.
This started out when we took our car to have the tires rotated and balance. The Mechanic told us we needed new brakes, so we took it to get this done. we are now having all kinds of problems as I stated above. Took it to the Honda place here and one person told us it was not worth fixing. I do not believe this. The car has a little over a 115,000 miles on it. I have been driving a Honda since 1992. This car we bought new and I know it has been service.. One person at the Honda place here said he could replace all the mounts and would not promise it would fix it. We have even had one of the new tires replace because they said it was bad.
View 19 Replies
My 2005 Accord steering wheel shakes quite a bit when I start to accelerate. I had the tires rebalanced, and it's still happening. The dealership indicated that there was "play" in both axles, and they both needed to be replaced ..... There's 85,000 miles on the vehicle and it's in excellent condition, could this shaking be caused by something else ?
View 5 Replies
I searched for a prior post on this without success. I have a serious problem with my '04 V-8 transmission shift lever being stuck in Park in cooler weather. Ny wife is the primary driver, and on some cooler mornings it is almost impossible for her to move the shift lever out of park. She has to let the car warm up a bit, and then move the lever around a bit with all her might before it will finally move out of park. The dealer can't figure out what is wrong. It only appens when the temperature is below about 50 degrees, and with winter approaching, frequent problems lie ahead.
View 24 Replies
What causes a whirring sound in the front of the car when I turn the steering wheel? It happens first thing when I start in the morning but goes away.
View 3 Replies
I searched for a prior post on this without success. I have a serious problem with my '04 V-8 transmission shift lever being stuck in Park in cooler weather. Ny wife is the primary driver, and on some cooler mornings it is almost impossible for her to move the shift lever out of park. She has to let the car warm up a bit, and then move the lever around a bit with all her might before it will finally move out of park. The dealer can't figure out what is wrong. It only appens when the temperature is below about 50 degrees, and with winter approaching, frequent problems lie ahead.
View 24 Replies
I have a 1998 Honda Accord 4 cylinder with roughly 150k miles. When the weather is cold outside the steering wheel will shake until the car warms up. I have taken the car into the shop and they checked the engine mounts, tie rods, etc and they told me that the car is fine. The tires are not unbalanced nor are they packed with dirt or debris. The vibration only occurs when the car is cold and it goes away once the car warms up. Also, the vibration will stop when I simply place a small amount of pressure on the steering wheel with my hand or knee. The vibration does not occur when I am driving at low or high speeds and it usually only occurs when I am stopped at stop signs or lights.
I have done the regular maintenance on the vehicle and I have replaced the timing belt, spark plugs/ wires, belt(s), etc, if that make a difference.
View 4 Replies
I have just bought a 2001 Prius with 127,550 miles. Hybrid battery has been replaced with a used one and all systems seem to work fine except the shift lever in the "Park" position does not lock the transmission. No big problem as long as the Parking Brake works. Preliminary investigation does not reveal any easy fix.
View 6 Replies
My girlfriend has a 2007, v6, Honda Accord. She had difficulty turning the steering wheel, accompanied with a loud noise. She took it to a local garage and they diagnosed it as a leak in the power steering hose which she had replaced for about $400. When she used the car the following day, the problem was still there and seemed to be a little worse. She called the garage and they said for her to bring the car back which we'll be doing tomorrow. Also, coincidentally, we saw that Honda issued a recall for this. [URL] ...... As a result, we have the following questions:
-Is there any recourse for full or partial reimbursement from Honday? After all, if we took it to Honda, then Honda dealer would bill Honda Manufacturer anway.
-Should garages be familiar with recalls?
-Assuming the local garage fixes the problem, do you recommend that we still take it to the dealership?
View 4 Replies
2001 Honda CRV. Key will not turn. Lights work, steering wheel is not locked up, clutch in but key will not respond.Interior light goes on when key removed. Key will simply not turn.
View 6 Replies
I have a 91 accord I just was leaving to go to the store. I took off like normal when I was putting it in 2nd gear it locked up on me. Now if I leave it in neutral and let off the clutch it will move forward. If I try and put it in any gear it locks up. Is my trans shot or is it something else. I have been hearing clicking sound when I make a right turn. Just bought the car and it's my first Honda I just don't know what to look at first.
View 2 Replies
