This should be an easy question.
I do not understand why automobile makers need to put a devise that keeps you from turning the ignition switch all the way off so you may remove your keys unless you push a little button lever.
I’m not real mechanical.
Its so that if your engine stalls while driving, when you go to restart it you don’t accidentally turn your ignition all the way off and lock your steering wheel while coasting!
They don’t. Neither of my cars have one.
Your cars must be automatic. AFAIK it is mandatory on stick shifts and on autos the key can’t be turned off until the car is placed in park.
Some automatics have the button instead of the park lockout but they must, AFAIK, have one or the other.
Hmmm… never seen anything like that before on cars over here.
Isn’t the correct procedure under such circumstances to bring the car to a safe halt, then restart the engine?
I’ve never owned a car that had that little button and they were mostly stick shifts.
The only car I’ve driven in recent memory with that button was a rental Ford something with an automatic.
You didn’t mention make and model. That is always helpful information to assist in answering an inquiry.
My '94 Buick must be in ‘Park’ before the ignition key can be removed to prevent damage to either the engine or the transmission for reasons already stated.
My husband’s '94 standard Jeep Cherokee has one of those little knobs in question. My '97 Hyundai (also standard) didn’t. I don’t recall ever owning a vehicle (the rest were all automatic) that had one.
I’ve often wondered this myself. Seems more trouble than its worth.
My MR2 had one of those buttons, but on the other cars I’ve driven (all stick shifts), you have to push the key into the lock while turning it to “off”. It serves the same purpose: keeping you from locking the steering wheel accidentally, even though the wheel doesn’t actually lock until you remove the key.
I’ve owned three different manual transmission cars in the past 6 years (model years 1994, 1997 and 2004) and none of them had this.
I have seen it before, though.
It’s something particular to different makes. You’ll never see it on most European cars, for example.
My wife’s last vehicle, however, a 2000 Chevy S-10 (manual) had one.
I’ve never seen or even heard of this system. The system as described by Mr2001 is the only one I’ve experienced so far, on cars and bikes.
While I have driven a fairly large number of cars from around the world, I’ve never actually driven an American car, so maybe it’s only an American thing?
In order to remove the key from both of my Hyundais you have to turn it all the way counterclockwise, then push it inwards, and then turn it a little more. But this is no button. Do you have a picture? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these buttons.
I once drove a Ford Fairmont something or other that had this feature. The button mechanism screwed up and I was unable to remove the key from the ignition at all. Wouldn’t have been able to lock the doors (stupidly I had no spare), and anyone could have started the car. Had to practically take apart the whole steering column.
OTOH, if your engine starts uncontrolled acceleration, you may want to throw it into neutral and switch it off, yet retain the limited control of the unpowered steering/brakes while coming to a stop.
Both cars we used in driver’s ed when I was a young’un- '93 Pontiac Sunbirds and '95 Pontiac Sunfires- used the button system.
None of the cars I’ve driven since except a Chevy Cavalier had it. I’m thinking it’s just a GM design convention.
It must be a Ford thing cause my manual Ford has that little button
My '84 Toyota Corolla (manual ) has the button, but my '02 Toyota Camry (automatic) doesn’t.
I susspect it is correct that it will stop you locking the steering wheel accidentaly. My VW Cabrio doesn’t have a button, I’ll check if the steering wheel will lock with the key in, or if it only locks when the key is removed.