well found the problem hood was not closed all the way.....What were doing under the hood?

 

Having had mine done, I'll take a wild guess at answering both hurst2001 and your questions.

All of my radio presets remained which leads me to believe they do not disconnect at the battery, but rather pull an ignition fuse or link under the hood.

 

Responded to GM flyer for recall of ignition switch in my 2008 HHR by calling local Chevy dealer. Dealer called about 3 weeks later and said parts were in-house, and they were vehicle specific to my VIN. Took in yesterday, and dealer replaced ignition switch, and provided two new keys and two NEW fobs!! Told me that old ignition switch and keys would be destroyed.
(Surprised to see elsewhere that person received old keys back.)

Fobs work great, as do new keys...was reluctant to do the recall since vehicle has not experienced a problem in 65,000 miles, but decided to go ahead just to be safe...glad I did.

 

Man, that's pretty cool. Two new keys here, but no key fobs...I wonder if anyone has gotten key fobs?

 

I moved the 2 thread that the above 2 posts were in to here, since there is absolutely NO reason to start a new thread on this subject.

 

Not sure why they replaced the fobs, as only the ignition switch and keys were part of the recall. As far as vin specific, yes they order by vin, but that's only for inventory control. Dealer can make any ignition switch kit work in any car, vin gives them info necessary to make the computer see the switch as valid, and so the switch recognizes the keys. Mine was replaced long before the parts ordered for my vin arrived, because some one else cancelled. Switch and keys work just fine, and if dealer does what they are supposed to any kit will work in any car.

 

This being a double recall of sorts with both the ignition switch and ignition tumbler replacement causes me to believe it is VIN specific to insure the ignition is keyed identical to the driver's door lock. What am I overlooking?

 

It is VIN specific so only 1 set of recall parts can be ordered per car.

Could you imagine if it wasn't VIN specific. I'm sure there would be owners ordering the parts from multiple dealers and waiting to see which dealer got the parts in first.

The VIN specific thing is just a "checks and balance" system they're using so there won't be an excess of orders.

 

So apparently they set the tumbler pins on the new ignition lock to match the old keys at time of installation?

 

On May 10th I called MK Smith Chevrolet in Chino, CA about the recall. On 5/26 they told me the parts were ordered. I called on 6/12 to get info on the parts and was told they will contact me. On 7/9 I received a letter stating the parts were in and got a 7/17 appointment which I did today. Got there and 2 hours later it was done. Got two new keys which (although have different ‘grooves’ work in the door). Now we will see if this is a permanent fix or will I have problems down the line. Time will tell.