<p>What to do? The key doesn’t turn all the way although the parking break is on. I can’t get the key out and the engine is still engaged in some degree.</p>
<p>That happened to me once several years ago, if I’m understanding your problem correctly. My car was fairly new, so I called the dealer. The person I talked to told me to turn the steering wheel hard while turning the key to the off position, and that did the trick. It was somehow locked up.</p>
<p>Happened to me too. Long time ago, so I can’t remember exactly the fix… but I had to take it to the dealer. Coronax’s solution didn’t work for me or them.</p>
<p>Does it matter which way? Do you have to do that simultaneously or can I turn the steering wheel all the way and turn the key?</p>
<p>I would take it to the dealership if I can. I plan to tomorrow. Not sure if the battery will hold until then.</p>
<p>Try this.</p>
<p>Make sure that you have the car in “park”</p>
<p>Use your left hand and move the steering wheel one way or the other. At the same time, see if you can turn the key to the off position. </p>
<p>Also, some of the older cars had a little button next to the ignition lock that had to be pushed to free the key. </p>
<p>Usually the steering wheel manipulation will do it, if the problem is that you can’t get the key turned to “off”. You may have to use a little force to move the steering wheel. Don’t be afraid to apply some extra force to make it move a little. You won’t hurt the steering. DO NOT APPLY EXTRA FORCE TO THE KEY. Use normal pressure there.</p>
<p>Also, try rocking the car back and forth (while you’re in it) if you can’t turn the steering wheel. I’ve have this happen several times in my SVU. They said sometimes it has to do with the angle your wheels are turned.</p>
<p>This was several years ago, but I’m pretty sure I did it simultaneously, so I was turning the steering wheel to counterclockwise with my left hand. I felt the steering wheel unlock at the same time the key moved to the full off position. I was then able to remove it from the ignition.</p>
<p>^^ I’ve had to do exactly that on some cars. The ‘key’ to the problem on some cars is to make sure the wheels are straightened out before stopping and turning off the key which is a good idea anyway unless parked against a curb on a hill and then the wheels shouldn’t be cut too much. Straightening the wheels after parked makes for fewer surprises when moving the car the next day (i.e. the car doesn’t cut one way or the other).</p>
<p>It’s a newer car 2006. Undeterred my D took the car out. I asked her to try the steering wheel maneuver. Not working. I will try again when she gets back.</p>
<p>The wheels in my car were pretty straight. I came up on my driveway that is pretty straight.</p>
<p>This happened to me this past summer with a rental car. It was a new car, and I felt like a total idiot. I called Avis and they walked me through all the “Is your car in park?” stuff. I told them that I actually had driven cars before and knew how to work them. NOTHING helped and I was in a tiny town in Maine with NO help around. I drove across the street and asked a young border partrol guy to help. At first HE couldn’t do it, either, which made me feel better. A combination of really turning the wheel and then yanking on the key did the trick.</p>
<p>I’ll try that, really turning. Hope it works. If not, I think the battery will be dead by tomorrow morning. Lovely!</p>
<p>That used to happen to our mini van. The fix we found by searching the internet was to tap the key in further and it would turn. it’s worth a try, tap the end of the key with a soft hammer or something. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’ve had this happen to. Some ignition switches seem to be more sensitive to the exact position the steering wheel is in when you turn the engine off.</p>
<p>With the engine not running, the steering wheel will be much harder to turn. But it shouldn’t take much of a turn (or at least it hasn’t for me)… i.e., if your hands are at 12 o’clock on the steering wheel, going to either 1 o’clock or 11 o’clock should be enough. But it’s when your hands are at the 1 o’clock or 11 o’clock position that you want to take the key out.</p>
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<p>That’s why I was told to rock the car back and forth. It worked for me. The last time it happened the engine wasn’t running and the steering wheel wouldn’t budge until I did that.</p>
<p>We had this problem many times with our kids’ car. Apparently one of them spilled a milkshake (or was it a Latte?) into the gearshift which gummed up the works. When the car wasn’t thoroughly in Park, the key wouldn’t come out. What worked for us was to repeatedly shift from Park to other gears and then back again. After doing it many times, it would eventually engage and the key would come out.</p>
<p>It worked! Not at first but I went 11 and 1 a few times and it came out. Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>Am glad it worked! Problem solved.</p>
<p>Glad your solution worked. This happened to DS once. He finally managed to maneuver the key out, but someone told him that the key might be bent. So he went to have a new key made (harder to do/more expensive with new models), and the guy showed him that it was actually bent just a hair, not enough to see, but when you put the old key and the new next to each other, it was obvious. He never had a problem with the replacement key.</p>
<p>Summary of things to try:</p>
<ul>
<li>Locking steering wheel – try turning the steering wheel while removing or turning the key.</li>
<li>Automatic transmission – make sure that it is firmly in Park.</li>
<li>Saab with manual transmission – make sure that it is in Reverse.</li>
<li>Some old cars – check for a release button.</li>
<li>Worn ignition lock – fiddle with it; replace as soon as possible.</li>
</ul>
<p>This has happened to me dozens of times-- my dad’s 2009 car does it all the time, I can’t remember what triggers it-- which is probably why it always happens to me! Turning the wheel counterclockwise while turning the key has always worked right away.</p>