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Your heart is all-important; you are literally dead if it doesn’t work. This is because your heart pumps needed blood and sends electrical impulses to other parts of your body. Something very similar is your car’s ignition system. When you turn the ignition key and start your car’s engine, your ignition and your battery work together to pump the gas and the electrical system so that your car can operate its many parts. When your ignition cylinder does not work or has problems, it is much like having a heart attack; panic ensues and the car may not work as it should or at all!
You get in your car and insert the transponder key and your car won’t start. Right away, many people blame the ignition. What else could it be? Actually, it could be other things and unless you are a locksmith or a car mechanic, you may not know which others. Follow our advice and recommendations and if these tips don’t work; then call your favorite trusted automotive locksmith!
Are you in the right gear? You need to be in PARK and none other. You can’t be almost in PARK; that’s like being almost pregnant; either you are or you are not! Jiggle the gear a bit and double check. Making this tiny adjustment could save you some money and a lot of time and stress. Check your gear but always put your parking brake on, just in case. You are pre-occupied with other things and it’s easy to not notice that your car is rolling forward or backward. People and pets are injured or even killed every year by autos rolling on them while they were doing something else.
This part is a little tricky. Do this. Sometimes your steering wheel can lock up and when it does, the ignition key will not turn. In many car models, the steering wheel locks if leaned upon too heavily. This is easy to do without noticing. You might be getting in or getting out of your car and then lean upon the wheel without realizing it. Before you know it, the wheel has locked in place and your ignition or transponder key won’t turn or even come out. There have been countless calls to locksmith shop, auto repair companies and AAA because of this one small problem which is quickly and easily fixed. Just firmly move your steering wheel back and forth a couple of times and it will unlock and allow you to turn the ignition key.
This simple check is easy, but again; don’t forget to apply the parking or emergency brake. You need to check to see if the car’s battery is working or if it’s run down. A drained battery will not have enough ‘juice’ to power your engine start up. It can also produce many of the same symptoms of actual ignition cylinder problems. With your brake on, turn on your headlights and/or dashboard lights to see if they work. You can also check your battery by seeing if your windshield wipers, radio or power windows work. If your car’s battery is run down, you won’t be able to see any of these items working and you’ll know that you have a drained battery. If they do work, the problem is obviously something other than your battery.
It’s rare, but once in a while the wrong transponder key will be inserted into the ignition slot. This could happen if you live or work in areas where other drivers also have their keys nearby, and since many of these keys are similar in size and shape, the incorrect one could be inserted and just because it went in, doesn’t mean that it will work or even come back out. Also, even if the correct transponder key was used but it was somehow dropped or damaged to the point that the embedded chip fell out, then your car’s ignition will not respond as the onboard computer will not recognize the signal that gives it the ‘okay’ to start.