I went to store this afternoon and parked car in driveway because I was going to mow the yard this afternoon. I left keys in the ignition. Everything was working normally.
Went outside to lock up and Bam, Car is dead. Completely dead. I tried to start car. Dead, and now I can’t even get keys out of the ignition.
Car: 2003 Grand Prix
There was no apparent drain on battery. Lights were not on. And the Battery is relatively new. Less than 3 years. Nothing like this has happened before.
Saturday Night. I locked up car with spare key but dang, I don’t know where to start.
Anyone have a clue and what I can do tomorrow evening?
I assume the key was not turned fully off. If so, the ignition lock cylinder control actuator (and possibly some other circuits) would draw power, and when the battery got low enough the actuator would not allow the key to be turned fully off and removed. You may be able to remove the key by using another vehicle and jumper cables.
A fully discharged automotive battery has been compromised. The best bet for reliability is to replace it. If you want to try to reuse it, it should be fully charged with a battery charger at a slow rate (<4 amps).
That should do it and was the first thing I thought of. Sometimes my steering wheel locks up so I can’t turn the key to start it and giving the wheel a jiggle always loosens it.
and sometimes when worn or jammed a jiggle to release the wheel won’t be enough.
do jiggle it for a while (until veins bulging in head) and swear a whole bunch. repeat. but you may have to give the wheel a yank to the side you expect it should go.
As much as tried to jiggle and jostle, that key would not come out. Could not get the car out Park either.
Jumped the Battery and the car sputtered, and it turned over and started.
Took it to AutoZone and the battery was indeed dead. I bought it in September 2009.
Thanks for the tips, but there was no way that key was coming out of the ignition without some extra juice.
BTW, when did batteries get so expensive? Seems like I remember buying batteries for years and years and they were always about 60-70 dollars. This one was $120.
Yorikke, political jabs are not allowed in General Questions. Since you may have intended this as a joke, I’m making this a note instead of a warning, but don’t do this again.
