I have heard that a heavy key chain can damage the ignition. How heavy is too heavy?
I am now convinced you can find anything on the internet…I typed “can a heavy key chain damage the ignition switch” and the first of many web sites on the topic popped up…a tom and ray from Sept '06…
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20060902/ai_n16706875/
Half dozen or more keys plus metal trinkets.
Personally, I never have more than the remote, ignition, house and one mail box key on the ring.
I carry a spare ignition/door key and one house key in my wallet.
Yes it can. It does not do it often but is is known to happen. I suggest reducing the number of keys on your key chain. How many do you really need? Do they need to be all on the same key chain?
who really knows how much is too much for your car? I carry a large key chain for work. I do not put my car key on it. Just two different house keys and the two other keys for my other cars. I have a house/car chain and a work chain. I would say 5 or 6 regular keys seven if some are small. But I have never broken a ignition lock in 30 years.
Some people have keys, a wallet, and a keepsake or two on their key chain. That’s too much. Up to 8 keys, a fob, and a light chatchke won’t be a problem.
I like to keep my car keys on a separate key chain, and attach them to the rest of my keys with a metal clip. That way I can detach them when I use them and when I don’t need them. My limit would probably be four keys at most. If you carry more than that, I think you should get a key chain that will let you detach your car keys when you use them.
According to the manual for your car 1lb is the upper weight limit :0)
Seriously I don’t know off any actual studies performed that resulted in an actual figure.
This “too many keys” idea probably came from a customer wanting to know why his ignition switch developed problems. Mechanics always wanting to provide somekind of answer said it was from too many keys. This mechanic heard the explaination from someone else and another mechanic heard the story from another person and it just gets passed along like this. Just like when we were kids playing “telephone”
The less weight on a keychain, the better. Time to take that bronze Pamela Anderson statue off, and mount it on the dashboard…
I had an ignition lock fail on an old 70’s GM wagon, while parked in front of the drug store. It was not the mechanic, but the locksmith who fixed it and told me sometimes heavy keys cause them to fail. I sure had no expertise to know he was wrong.
What time and a little motion can do sometimes gets out of our logic path. For example, my 1992 Subaru would not start and after much fooling around with tapping on the starter, this and that, it suddenly hit me that the key was not making the connect. 17 years of turning a key will do that.