Hi! I have a 2004 Aveo with an immobilizer and I noticed the key gets a little warm where the plastic part meets the metal part of the key. I’ve heard several reports of keys getting blazing hot with this car. Is this something that’s normal? Or, should I not be concerned about it?
I haven’t driven the car for more than 35 minutes and it’s only gotten a little warm, but am afraid if I drive longer, it will get hotter and it could be dangerous.
It should be nothing to worry about. I have a number of home appliances that get warm when they are in use. It is all perfectly normal. If they don’t get warm it means they are broken.
Also, I wouldn’t put much stock in rumors of keys getting “blazing hot” after use. If you still have doubts, visit a Chevy showroom and speak to the service manager. Ask him about such reports. If there is really a problem he will have a TSB (technical service bulletin) issued by GM. If he denies a problem this may be one of those rare moments a service manager speaks the truth.
Thanks. I’ve heard a few reports of keys being extremely hot and there turned out to be an actual problem with ignition wires. But, I guess it’s not a common problem because there are no TSBs about it, that I can find, and I think if it’s a major problem, they would have had a fix. I’ve heard others say that it’s just the fob in the key charging and I would say that it feels about as warm as when my cell phone charges up. I’m taking an extended trip, soon, and will keep an eye on it.
It’s very important that I can take long trips in very hot weather up and down hills with this car. My old car finally couldn’t do it anymore and that’s why I bought this car.
I would be a little concerned myself about this. I recommend you keep checking to see if the problem gets worse. There may be a problem with the ignition switch contacts being dirty and causing a resistance between the contacts. When the circuit current passes through the resistance this causes heat. If there is a problem it will get worse over time as the resistance will get worse and things will snowball, sort of speak.
Thanks! I talked to the dealer about it, but it doesn’t sound like they can do anything unless the key gets “burning hot”. I drove on a long trip today, taking a few breaks at regular intervals. I noticed that the CD player gets really hot, too, along with the CDs. The key got hot enough that it was uncomfortable to hold after about 1 hour and 20 minutes of driving, but it wasn’t “burning hot”.
I saw somewhere that this is actually some kind of design problem with the car. Basically, the car is outfitted with all kinds of security devices, etc, that put out heat while the car is running and that heat gets dissipated through the radio and the ignition cylinder. The thing is, some people have had CDs melted and keys so hot that they almost get burned.
I hear there might be a fix, but it’s not always permanent. This doesn’t really affect my usual daily driving habits, but I do like to take very long trips at least once a month. But, even then, with gas prices so high, I am hardly doing that any longer and it’s more like a few times a year, instead.