[helping my sister]

i was checking out my sisters car after she had some unrelated problems earlier today. took it for a drive to see what the issue was and i stopped and put the car in park and when i went to put it in drive and it wouldnt move. kept trying and it finally went into drive but then i heard a "snap". it shifted fine but when i got home i parked and checked to make sure it shifted fine and it did. so i turn off the car and i cant remove the key from the ignition. it eventually came out but now the key wont go in the ignition at all....

did i break something or does the ignition needs oiling?

any help with this is appreciated because im lost, i can fix a lot of things but ive never had ignition problems like this before

 

[helping my sister]

nobody?!? am i the only 1 to have this problem?

 

[DrivenDaily]

Well, sounds to me like the shift interlock cable died or came out of adjustment.

 

[helping my sister]

what do you mean the cable died? is there a way i can check or troubleshoot this?

i looked at the car today and noticed i can now shift the car from park to drive or any other gear by just pressing the botton on the shifter. key still wont go in the ignition...

 

[DrivenDaily]

The shift interlock cable goes from the key to the shifter. If the car is not in P then you're not supposed to be able to turn the key all the way to Off to remove it. If it is no longer working right then you'll have issues.

To check on it you'll need to access the shifter under the console and possibly the back of the ignition switch. I'm not intimately familiar with it so I can't guide you step by step. If you're not sure how to continue others on here may be able to help further or you may need to seek assistance at a local shop.

There's an emergency override that you apparently found to allow you to shift from Park but that overrides the footbrake, not the ignition. Your switch may have physically worn out, too.

 

[helping my sister]

i removed the senter console and checked and saw nothing out of the ordinary but also didnt know what i was looking for. on the left was the rod that went to the trans and the right cable is what goes to the ignition(im guessing).

i saw nothing wrong with them but also dont really know how to troubleshoot it. im sure it was something i could fix easily but she decided to take it to the "stealership". they said 250 to fix it but she doesnt remember what part was broke so i will ask when its picked up.

didnt want her to take it to them, i know i could have fixed it for just the cost of the part just would have taken me time to figure out what the issue was.

will post back here just in case anybody else has this issue