Prizm - Chevrolet :: Ignition Key Doesn't Immediately Turn
Oct 15, 2011
I have a 1999 Chevy Prizm that I'm trying to keep as long as possible since I'm now working very part-time hours. For the past week or two I put the ignition key in, and can't get it to immediately turn. I check to make sure the car's really in Park, push the key in further, pull it out just a hair...between each step I try to get the key to turn and start the car. After 4 or 5 tries it does turn and the car starts right up.
I've tried both my "regular" key and my spare, thinking maybe one was a little worn and not fitting quite right. I'm getting worried that the time will come when I won't be able to get the key to turn. Is this a problem with the lock part of my ignition, or is there some glitch that's telling the car it's not in Park even though it is?
I just had to spend a good chunk of my emergency money to get tires and brake work on this car so it could pass inspection, and when I told the man at the garage about the key problem he shrugged and made some vague comment about old cars having problems.
View 6 Replies
Advertisement
I always have my car in DRL, and just noticed last night to today that it doesn't turn on immediately when I start the car, however it does seem to turn on a few minutes after the car starts rolling. I'm sure before it turned on immediately with the car. Maybe 12v going weak?
View 9 Replies
I've got a 2001 Chevy Prizm (160,000 miles) Starts right up-after I drive for awhile and turn the engine off. It won't restart at times - I have to wait anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes till the engine will start again. The engine cranks - so it's not the starter or the battery.
View 4 Replies
I recently purchased Toyota Camry Hybrid -2008, pre-purchase inspection done by Toyota dealer. Today, my car refuses to turn ignition on (I have keyless start). After several trials, it turned on. I switched off the car and tired after 5 mins. Again it gave the trouble first time, worked second time. What could cause this issue? It's still under hybrid warranty.
View 5 Replies
key goes in and out of ignition cylinder but can't be turned to start car and release shift lever etc / dealer says replace ignition lock
View 10 Replies
Last 6th of Jan. my son parked his car, a 2008 Chevy HHR, and 3 hours later it wouldnt start. Not only wouldn't start, the Ignition key wouldn't turn, and he couldn't remove it. Checked ECM fuse, Good: Checked Batt. No voltage on the Batt. No corrosion, no loose connections. Put jumper on it, started right up. Took it to Advance Auto, Batt showed a CCA of 660 Amps., Alternator putting out 15 Volts.
View 2 Replies
It's a 2001 Chevy cavalier. The key is stuck and won't turn the car off. Already have tried shaking the wheel and wd-40. The wipers won't work and the gauges won't turn on until I jiggle the key.
View 4 Replies
I have an 1999 Cavalier that I got inspected in July so I'm good until next July. I had a small welding job done on the frame so it would get the inspection sticker for this year, but I'm thinking that by next year, I'll have paid enough off of my Liberty and be able to take on another car payment. In the meantime, the Cavalier has 214,000 miles on it and has something weird happening. Occasionally, I will get into the car and turn the key to start it and it makes a sound in what I think is the engine compartment.
It almost seems as if there is a small explosion in the engine and the car doesn't start. Then, I turn the key again and it starts up without a problem, no boom. This actually happened again yesterday and I'm writing now so I don't forget "how" it happened. I stopped at the school to pick up my son and shut off the car to go in. I picked him up, got in the car and that is when it happened. I had just come from my house which is a mile away, so it was a short drive to get him. I keep thinking that maybe one of the cylinders has some gas in it that is igniting when I try to start it, but not sure what could cause that. It doesn't happen all the time though, just once every couple of weeks.
Also, this car has over 200,000 miles on it and I do not believe I have ever changed the antifreeze in it. It is the orange kind that is supposed to be good up to 100,000 miles and, yes, I should have had it changed a long time ago, but I have never had any problems with it overheating or starting in the winter time so I didn't worry about it. Again, this is only once a month or maybe every few weeks, but I'll see the coolant light come on. I don't want to take this to the shop and pay them to replace the coolant, so I'm thinking I'll either do it myself. My question is...should I drain it and replace with orange coolant, green coolant, or just top it off with water?
View 2 Replies
A year ago, I had a problem starting my car (a 2004 Chevrolet Impala, about 120,000 miles). When I put the key in the ignition, the engine wouldn't turn. I knew there wasn't a problem with the battery because my lights, radio, etc. were still operating fine. Instead, I got a bright flashing "SECURITY" message on the front panel of the car. After a few minutes pacing around the parking lot, I returned to my car and it started without a problem. I checked online, and several car forums and articles claimed that this was a common problem in 2004 Chevrolet Impalas: some faulty wiring in the security system would stop the car from turning on because it thought you were trying to hot-wire the vehicle.
After the first incident, I didn't encounter this problem again until recently. Within the last 2 weeks, this problem has become more frequent, occurring maybe 2-3 times per week. The car won't start and I'll get a flashing "SECURITY" message. If I wait a while (between 5 to 30 minutes), the car will eventually start. I finally decided to take my car into a Chevrolet dealership to get the problem fixed. I described the problem to the mechanic; she guessed that the cause was associated with the ignition cylinder....
View 7 Replies
I have a very weird thing going on with my car. It all started about 3 month ago. The car will not accelerate and it left me broke down on the side of the road. It will start but it will not move fwd. So i took it to a mechanic, he told me it was the ignition coils, so he replaced them with some used ones that he got from the car junk yard. It worked for a like 2 months. About a month ago its stared doing it again! So i thought that since the mechanic replaced the ignition coils last time with some used one, i out to try some new ones. so i went ahead and bought some new one and the spark plugs and replaced them, $100 later it still doing it.
Mind you that this time around, the car will take a bit to accelerate once i get enough speed the car will only go 70mph, then the car starts to feel like its going shut off but it doesn't. Also it feels like the car is being held back, and every now n again will have a little burst of energy. I also see the gas consumption its a bit faster, i guess since I'm pressing the gas pedal all the in but can not go more than 70mph.
View 5 Replies
I'm very happy with the car. the last posting I made was about a pulley, the mechanic said is was a $26 bracket causing drag.
View 2 Replies
i have done mechanic work most of my life and can't figure out whats happening with this car. it'll idle fine but when u give it fuel it's like it cuts out. have changed fuel pump,timing,and checked most sensors?! 2000 chevy prizm twin cam toyota motor same as corolla.
View 2 Replies
I drive a '98 Chevrolet Prizm with 205K miles on it. It drives perfectly fine except in heavy rain/snow. In those cases, I've noticed that as soon as I drive through a big puddle (i.e., get the undercarriage wet, it seems), my car won't accelerate above 35 or 40 mph. If I attempt to push it faster, the engine (?) makes a terrible roaring sound, frankly like it's going to die on me. Interestingly, if I pull over, turn off the car, let it "dry out" for a couple of minutes, and then restart it, it drives fine once again (assuming, of course, that I don't hit anymore wet patches).
I first noticed this problem about 2 years ago during the winter when, on one occasion, it had just snowed heavily and I drove through a particularly sludgy patch on the highway. Since then, I've only had the problem recur a few times, typically during monsoon-like rains. However, more recently, I've noticed the problem wanting to occur even during medium-to-heavy rains. The car will start making growling noises in those wet conditions; however, if I keep pushing the car at highway speeds, eventually the sound goes away rather than crescendo-ing to the really scary roaring noise. I'm going to hazard a guess that by continuing to drive my car at highway speeds, even when it starts growling, it dries out whatever part is getting wet and thus getting "irritated".
In sum, it sounds like my car is becoming more sensitive to and/or more exposed to moisture.
View 7 Replies
I have a 1999 Chevy Geo Prizm a.k.a. Toyota Corolla. I am new to car ownership and don't know much about maintenance yet.
Recently, the back right wheel has started making a soft "wumm wumm wumm" noise when the car is in motion. The faster I drive, the more the noise speeds up, so it seems like something is coming loose or out of alignment. I've driven over a fair number of potholes in the last couple of months, and while I don't remember any particularly gnarly ones, I imagine that's what has caused the problem.
Any guesses as to what might be going wrong, how dire it is, and what I should expect to hear from the mechanic when I take it in?
View 7 Replies
the car has 180,000 and last month i noticed a slight hum during acceleration. the car also has a slight whine when the weather is cold. i checked the serpentine belt, and it's good. Could it be the power steering fluid? Is this normal or am I a knob?
View 12 Replies
it's really a 1987 Nova, but the drop down menu didn't list that option. I have been working on trying to figure out the cause of this problem for a pretty long time. During the last several years it had been running deteriatingly worse until I did an ignition tune up and replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, and the distributor cap (and rotor). That restored operation back to just the original problem of random but often poor or inability to idle. I have spent a lot of time on the carburetor and think that isn't the cause of the trouble. I'm pretty shy about doing this post, but here goes.
View 7 Replies
I took my 2002 Chevy Prizm to a Firestone shop to have the tires rotated, battery and serpentine belt replaced, oil changed, and brakes adjusted. Yesterday, I noticed a chirping sound when I accelerate. Yesterday was also the first time since the maintenance work that I was driving without any music playing. So, it's possible that the chirping sound was happening before.
View 5 Replies
I have a Chevy Prizm 1998 and I drive about 250 miles a week. Recently I started going through a quart of oil in 2 weeks. My engine sounds good. I am religious about changing my oil and filter every 3,000 miles and I check my oil every time I fill up my gas tank. There is no blue smoke and no oil spots on the garage. Could it possibly be a small leak that only occurs while I am driving or a am I dreaming?
View 4 Replies
I am trying to diagnose a problem that a friend is having with their '92 Prizm (which is really a rebadged Corolla). It started when they went out to drive it one day and the battery was dead. So I checked it out, and it seemed like it had a dead cell. Bought a new battery and put it in, and everything seemed fine for a few weeks.
Then, the same thing happens. I take another look and notice that the positive battery terminal is very badly corroded. I replaced it with a new one and cleaned the negative terminal as well for good measure. I jump start the car, everything seems fine again for a few weeks.
This time, the car stalls out as they are leaving a parking lot. As in, they had driven somewhere with no problems, and then they started the engine again, and it died as they were moving at parking lot speed. So now I start thinking maybe it is the alternator or voltage regulator (I believe the regulator is inside the alternator on these, right?). I took the alternator to Autozone, and they tested it and said it was fine.
After that, I checked all the fusible links and fuses, all were fine. I checked the ground strap from the battery to chassis and engine to chassis, and they look fine as well. I have run out of obvious things to check.
View 3 Replies
When my vent is on the face setting, a grating/whistling noise emanates when the fan is on.This does not happen on the floor or defrost positions. The noise diminishes when it is in the face and partial floor or defrost setting. What may be causing the noise and how I could fix it.
View 1 Replies
I drive a 2001 Chevy Prizm with 90,000 miles on it. Lately, when I'm accelerating over about 30 to 40 mph, my engine starts to make a grinding noise, that gets worse the faster I go, or the more pressure I apply. The noise also happens when I'm going up hill. What's causing this noise, so I don't look like an idiot when I take it in to my mechanic?
View 1 Replies
