I have a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GT. For the past 5 months, my key has been sticking. Not each time I place the car in park, but A lot of the time. I was getting so frustrated with it. I found this website after googling, and wanted to say THANK YOU to those who have given others advise. I went outside (key stuck again) and tried it.. and it worked! My car is still under warranty until this July, so I will be taking it in. In the mean time, your "tricks" have been most helpful. Thanks so much!
I have owned 3 grand prixs in the past 8 years. They all had their little problems, but are great cars in general. If you are having problems with the key getting stuck in the ignition check the wiring harness that is attached to the bottom of the shifter inside the center console. On my 1998 grand prix one of the wire (in this case pink) pulled out of the connector because the wires were a little short when the shifter is in 1st. Reattaching this wire my self saved my almost 300 for the dealer to test and repair the issue and took maybe 15 minutes and completely solved the issue.
WOW, THE STRAW TRICK WORKED PERFECT! What a cool little trick to know! I've had my GP for 5 years now; I bought it used and it now has 160,000 miles on it. This is the first time my key has stuck (just 20 minutes ago). I was in my car frustrated trying to remove it, came inside, googled it, found this site, and WOW, thanks so much for everyones inpUT.
Hello all.
My wife has a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix and sometimes the ignition key will not come out. The car will not start, in fact there is no power at all. This car does not appear to have a release button under the steering column, unless I did not look well enough.
Also, this happened once while she was driving. Lost all power, had to glide into a parking lot and the ignition key would not come out.
We've found out that it is probably one of the selenoids or wires in between. The Ignition fuse gets tripped, so she carries a few in her car and just replaces the fuse and away she goes. But the fact that it happened while she was driving really scares me.
Love the car, drives real nice.
Thanks for any input.
Bill.
Dude, I had that same problem with not getting the key out of the ignition. It was due to my penchant for fast food soft drinks which would leak under the cupholders and into the gearshift interlock switch, shorting it out. Cost me $200 and that was to repair, not replace. Probably should have replaced for $400 since shifter was loose thereafter. Worst problem was at 86k miles air flow sensor died and shut down engine in rush hour traffic on Capital Beltway. Got it restarted, but took two footed driving to get it to a garage. Sold the vehicle after that costly repair. overall a great engine, though. 3800 v6.
Hi everyone with the key getting stuck. Take the steering column cover off and put a really small screw in the solenoid below the ignition key switch and it will be fixed forever. this fix is for key getting stuck, but nothing to do with shifting out of park.
I love my 2000 Grand Prix, but, I have about had enough. Right at 100,000 miles everything is falling apart. Air/heat quit working, replaced two window motors and one switch, sunroof is leaking bad and just made it home after setting at a gas station for 2 hours trying to get the car out of park. Paying a tow service $50 bucks for 30 seconds of work to bypass the shift lock. Maybe, I bought a lemon. I love Pontiac's, but this one is as bad as it gets.
Hey everyone (previous post 16th Sept). I wanted to get one of the Haynes repair books, but I guess there isn't one for this car.
Regarding the post after mine, I wanted to check or change the solenoid in the column because I think that's the problem. I like your idea so I tried to take the cover off, but it looks like I have to take the steering wheel off to do this. The cover comes loose, but it wraps around the column.
Is this easy to do, I don't want to take the steering wheel off, isn't there a special tool for that. Do you have to pull the fuse for the airbag?
Thanks for any input.
Bill.
I've got a 2001 gtp with 131K miles. The key will not release either. I took the covers off and front kick panel. I had to buy a special E4 torx socket wrench designed specifically for GM ignitions (google for internet stores that sell it as you will not find it at any brick and morter store). I removed and replaced the shift lock solenoid. I thought it fixed it, but it didn't. So now I will probably resort to pushing the button from here on out unless someone can tell me its most likely the switch at the shift lever assembly that is sending the signal to the solenoid. It seems easy enough to push a button with your finger. I havnt tried this yet except with the covers off. But, if this works then this will work well enough for me without spending more money. I can wait to buy a chevy volt or toyota corrolla or something. -probably the toyota because I'm sure the volt will cost 30K (or 2x the corrolla).
Thank you! I finally got my key out of my ignition. I have an 02 GTP and I pressed the button on the bottom of the steering column and it came right out. That was really annoying me.
Hi.
I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. I have had just about everything go wrong with this car. It's a great car, but has had all the problems discussed in the previous comments.
It has about 125km on it now, but probably has an issue every 10k.
The problem with not being able to shift from park has to either do with 2 things: 1. Ignition wires being detached. I believe they are too short and become detached after a lot of shifting. Had this replaced twice. 2. The third time they replace the entire shifter asembly.
I also now have the problem with the key getting stuck and I also believe it has something to do with the ignition wires again. I will do the straw trick and hopefully it works because I have invested so much already.
If you have problems with the brakes, make sure you install the GM OEM breaks. Never squeaked again for me and I drive pretty hard on them.
If you have a problem where you can start your car and it shuts off right away, it is the low fuel resistor in your gas tank.
If your car revs incorrectly, meaning while idling your car your rev meter tends to dip and jump up inconsistently, it is your air flow meter. Even while driving it revs incorrectly. Very easy to fix, 1 screw removes it. I would suggest getting it from the junk yard and install yourself.
My transmission also hesitates now. I had the transmission rebuilt because the clutch burnt out. The entire transmission was rebuilt and runs great, but the car now seems to hesitate when pushing on the gas in third or forth gear especially on the highway.
I own a 1999 Grand Prix GT with 188,000 miles that I bought brand new, and have had very few problems with it. As far as major problems with this car, I have replaced the auto temp control sensor once, and the air conditioner actuator, and that's about it. I feel I must comment on the heating/air system in this car though. The fan motor runs fine, but the amount of air flow from the vents is questionable. From what I've read on some of the Pontiac comment sites, this is a common problem.
The only other problem I've had is the power windows. I have had every power window in this car repaired at least once, and two of the windows have been done twice. I am now about to have one of the windows repaired again. This will be the seventh time. It has been either the motor or the window regulator. Luckily I am married to a very (sweet) handy man, and he has been able to work on them for just the cost of the parts. the only problem is the parts are pretty high. Buying the motor is not too bad, but if you have to replace the regulator, it's only sold as an assembly that includes the motor. Over $350.00! Ouch! My husband has been keeping the spare motors and replacing the brushes in them so they can be reused.
I like this car and probably will keep it a couple of more years if it doesn't start falling apart a little at a time, but I think that when I choose another car, I will drive a few from other manufacturers, and even though I have driven GM cars most all my life, I believe the quality has really gone downhill.
I have a 2000 Grand Prix 3800 V-6, and am not getting very good gas mileage. Does anyone have any suggestions on what can be done? I had a tune-up recently, and this didn't seem to help.
Have a 1998 GP GT loaded with stuff including HUD. It's not supercharged.
It wouldn't turn over, replaced starter, not fixed. If you turned the key enough times it would start.
Removed the cover on the bottom of the steering column and moved the wires leading to the ignition switch; voila, the starting problem was gone.
This morning wife tells me the key wouldn't come out, turns off, but won't go the last step turning to the left. I told her earlier about the solenoid to push and she remembered, smarter than I. Now need to fix it, maybe put in a screw to hold it in. It was convenient that I left the cover off the steering column, all that stuff is exposed.
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WARNING: Be real careful to stay out of the way of the air bag if you puts with the wiring. If it deploys and you are near it, it can break your neck, DOA.
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To fix the problem that results in your key getting stuck you need to remove the steering column cover (requires a female torx screwdriver). Once you have the cover off tilt the wheel all the way down. On the right side, just aft of the ignition you will see a white plastic barrel. Using a small flat head screw driver pry the top connector off and remove the spring and actuator rod (you may need to push up on the "manual release" at the bottom of the barrel. That will solve the problem for good. Or if you prefer you can have the solenoid in the barrel replaced. In a pinch you may also push a pen or pencil into the recess on the bottom of the steering column on the right side without removing anything except the round recess cover however you will need to do this every time you turn the ignition off. My advice just remove the part as outlined above.