jonathanm

Friday at 4:30, my wife calls me, says the HHR key won't turn the ignition any more. I go to the gas station she is stuck at, and sure enough, no matter what I do to it, the key acts like it doesn't belong to the vehicle. Called GM roadside, they dispatch a tow truck, and at 5:50, it shows up. Dealer service closes at 6, so it sat at the dealership all weekend. I called today, and they say they have the part on order and it's shipping from West Virginia, and I shouldn't expect to get the car back until Wednesday.

The service department didn't know what part was bad, the tech that worked on it was out on a test drive.

Any clue what part went bad?

The key inserts and triggers the dinger, and pulls out quite readily. I slammed the tilt column up and down a bunch of times in case there was a sticky pin in the key cylinder. The steering wheel wasn't locked at the start of the episode, but it locked as soon as I wiggled it. (steering wheel turned a fraction made the tow truck driver happy ) I've heard of automatic HHR's not giving the key back, but I've never seen anything on the lock cylinder refusing to turn.

2008 HHR AA5 M5

Jonathan

c2vette

this might help:

Bassfedman

2008 HHR The expensive one!

Well it happened again!
The wife called me at work this morning. And this is the fourth time is a year that she could not use the(new) (-12000miles) car. She had to call the 800# and I suppose the usual three days to fix and replace the cyclinder lock out. This is absolutely crazy. Under warranty but who can trust this car ever again? And what happens when it breaks again? Anyone know what my options are? Seems the Blue Book is less than what she owes on it? I bought a lemon of a car and the rest of you bought a lemon of a company!
Not at all happy!
bassfedman

xzombiex66

peple kill me when they say this. Go to honda or toyota maybe then you will be happy, since their cars are PERFECT and never have issues.

txbass06

Gotta love assumptions

BlackHHR06

I've had this same problem, but when this has happened to my HHR it was winter here in NY. After Emailing with Chevymgr, he sugusted I spray some WD 40 in the key hole. I did just that and the key would turn. After the weather warmed up I had no problems.
I guess the grease GM used in the switch got hard in cold weather ? and the WD 40 made it soft again. The grease could be getting hard in your case from the heat ? Try the WD 40 it's worth a shot.
Please post back if this works for you.

dkenthoward

I wasn't going to say anything as I realize you were blowing off steam. Any car and I repeat any car can have problems, last time I checked we don't make perfect jcars, if you go to any other web site you will find problems with those cars also. The HHR is not a perfect car thats why new cars come with warrantys, I have owned Hondas as well as Lincolns, and there has been problems with all of them. I feel bad that you are having repeated problems with the ignition, I have a seat belt on the passengers side that keeps locking up, been replaced once, I decided to give it time to see if a history builds and a solution is found for the problem, you might concider another Chevrolet dealer maybe one with more experience to resolve the issue for you the first time. I for one really enjoy the HHR it reminds me of the Honda Prelude SI that I once owned....

Old Lar

This was a problem in the early years, my '06 had this issue when it was under warreny. The dealer fixed it and had the car for a couple of days waiting for the parts arrival. Since the repair, I have had no issue with the "stuck" key.

Decker50

Thanks for the post. It seems banging the column will not get the key to turn.

Don06

A lock is a series of pins or gates. As you insert the key, the pins or gates are pushed aside by the high spots on the keys and have to spring back down into the lower cuts. If they stick and won't settle into the groove. Almost any automotive or hardware store will have lock lubricants. They are usually graphite or molybdenum based with alcohol as a dispersant. The alcohol evaporates leaving the lock with the dry lubricant so dust and dirt don't jam the tumblers. I lubricate all the locks a couple of times a year. This is really important for vehicles with keyless entry. Since you never use the key, the lock cylinder can freeze up.

I had neglected my house door lock for a couple of years and one night it wouldn't open. Grabbed the lube from the glove box and cured the problem.

Another big problem is people who have multiple keys on a ring. The weight of the keys swinging around can wear the lock pins.