I have a little bit of a problem. I am unable to remove my key from the ignition. It starts fine then when i go to shut her down it won't go pasted the acc. position. So i go out and pull the positive battery cable off my battery and the key will then release and it is able to be removed. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Brian

 

still in gear if you have auto?
wheel lock? (turn steering all teh way?)

not sure what else to say.

 

it is an automatic, but it does go into park but i can still push down the button and shift w/o pushin the brake down or the lock release

 

Is it a duplicate key? I had the same problem with a cheaply made duplicate key. The only way to get it out was to take it to a locksmith. He made me a couple of good keys that have never gotten stuck. I think if they are off by a tad, they can get stuck.

 

it is the factory toyota key. it does it with both copies that we recieved when the truck was bought

 

Gonzo,

What did you figure out about this key situation? A friend of my has just had his truck do this to him. My first thought was the Neutral/Park safety switch "not knowing the truck's tranny was in park or nuetral".

Thats was my first thought, any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Doug M.

 

i didn't find a fix so to speak. I took the panel below the steering column off.
then i got to the key cylinder there is a little box attached to it. i just unscrewed the two screws a little bit and then it would release the key. hope this helps.

 

Thanks Gonzo,

I'll have my buddy give that a try. If I find out any more, I'll post here.

Again, Thanks,


Doug M.

 

Did he try to wiggle the sterring wheel a bit while trying to get the key out?

 

If your key gets stuck in your 98 automatic 4runner and the shifter is sloppy then I guarantee that it is caused by the sloppiness of the shifter. When you put the shifter in park it probably isn't making contact with the little white switch which allows the key to release from the ignition. Try to lift and push the shifter up to the right hand side when you put it in park to see if it will release. If this works, then all you need to do is place new shims on the bolt that hold the shifter in place. I used a very thin piece of plastic tubing and haven't had any problems since. The dealership wanted to install a new tumbler (waste of $$).

Thank you for all the threads that helped me to resolve this issue....

 

I had this happen to me the other day, I went to Toyota and had them make another key from my VIN and it works fine.

 

Holy freaking thread revival! This one might have been resolved in less than 7 years.

More than likely the safety lock that wont let the key out unless the shifter is in park...You should be able to bypass it until you get a chance to fix it.

 

I had the same issue, just disengaged the safety lock and it's been perfect for 4 years. When I say disengage I simply unbolted it, turned it to the side so it was out of contact and then put the bolt back in to secure it out of the way.

 

Haha I had a Honda that did this! I would beat the @&$% out of the steering wheel I'm pretty sure nothing had ever gotten me as angry as that key. Wiggling the key and steering wheel would work after about ten minutes but I always got weird looks from people in parkinglots. Whenever someone borrowed that car I would laugh when they called flipping out over the key. Memories

 

i have repaired hundreds of those ignition cylinders... all caused by worn out keys, which wear the ignition cylinder out... cheep insurance is to cut a genuine toyota key BY CODE every couple years, and to carry as few keys as you can on your key chain... or seperate the car key...

 

I have an 85 and my is doing the same thing :/ Does any one know if its hard to replace the lock and cylender? Thanks