Ran my battery down on my car when I left my lights on and proceeded to work an 8-hour shift. Came out and stuck my key in the ignition. Nothing happened, which is when I realized my plight. The dang ignition wouldn’t release my key! This meant I couldn’t get into the trunk by key. I pressed the (s…

I believe it is the gear shift interlock solenoid that won’t allow the ignition to rotate to the lock/off position when there is no power. There are instructions in the owners manual on how to release the key if the battery is dead. Column Lock Release For vehicles with an automatic transmission,…

Hunh. Leafed through the OM when I bought it but missed that entirely! Good to know.

^Seems rather–unlikely. They’d have to bump it THREE indentations (not just one, like Cobalts were known for doing). And at any rate, it’d be just as “dangerous” as every MT car ever built, that has no means of sensing “park,” because “park” does not exist. But, besides the point, as this rather ve…

Manual transmission vehicles usually either have a button near the key to push or make you push the key inward to finish rotating the key to the LOCK position so it can be removed. This also is what prevents an unintended key rotation from locking the steering.

I always carry a spare key in my wallet in case I lose my key or accidently lock it in my car. In this case it would have allowed you to open the trunk to access the cables.

And the Cobalt’s battery is in the trunk too.

^There’s also a positive terminal underhood, specifically for the jumping of the vehicle.

Key-snatching 2008 Cobalt

Maintenance/Repairs

lion9car April 1, 2015, 4:47am 4

Disabling this feature would be a very bad idea. Do you really want your steering column to lock while you’re driving if someone accidentally bumps the key?

Topic		Replies	Views
Need help with ignition Maintenance/Repairs	9	845	May 31, 2019
2008 Chevrolet Cobalt - Key stuck! Maintenance/Repairs chevrolet	9	654	August 18, 2020
Starting a car without a key General Discussion	12	917	October 20, 2019
Key wont turn in the ignition Maintenance/Repairs chevrolet , silverado-1500	40	5460	March 19, 2023
2007 Buick LaCrosse key stuck after battery died Maintenance/Repairs buick , lacrosse	2	5460	June 12, 2020

Key-snatching 2008 Cobalt

Related topics