2002 Chevy Trailblazer

J

Joan Crawl

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Nov 22, 2012
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Breaks are locked-cannot remove key from ignition-no power,cannot go to work....any suggestions?
 
Joan Crawl said:
Breaks are locked-cannot remove key from ignition-no power,cannot go to work....any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Ignition switch, it's a pretty cheap part but not sure how easy it is to switch out as I haven't done one yet. Not being able to remove the key from the ignition is a classic sign of needing a new switch.

Hope this helped.
 
Joan Crawl said:
Breaks are locked-cannot remove key from ignition-no power,cannot go to work....any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Usually means the battery is dead. Maybe a bad battery or alternator is not charging.
 
Im glad you guys came in and corrected me. For some reason....I know I read it here some where, but I thought the keys not coming out of the ignition was a sign of a bad ignition switch. Is it the fact the brakes are locked up as well that hints to the battery and alternator?

My apologies for the wrong information. :redface:
 
Voymom said:
Im glad you guys came in and corrected me. For some reason....I know I read it here some where, but I thought the keys not coming out of the ignition was a sign of a bad ignition switch. Is it the fact the brakes are locked up as well that hints to the battery and alternator?

My apologies for the wrong information. :redface:
Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but I thought he was referring to the solenoid, activated by the brake pedal, that releases the shifter.

Also, the ignition switch can screw-up so many things, I guess that could be one of them.
 
There is a key release solenoid that is battery powered. If you leave the keys in the ignition with koeo and the battery is disconnected or drained they will not come out. The only way to release the keys is to press the solenoid in manually. The OP could have done that instead of recharging the battery and waiting to take the keys out. If the battery was fully charged and the keys wont come out then yeah could be the ignition switch .

With the age of the OPs vehicle and if the battery is old it wouldnt be a bad idea to change them as Wooluf mentioned.
 
Thanks for the explanation guys! Makes sense, I never knew that about the battery so I had just always assumed a stuck key was an ignition switch.
 
And the brakes being locked is an odd observation. As we all guessed, it's more likely to be the shift lever locked in PARK by the interlock solenoid.

Oh, Joan........calling Joan......did you get to work, and are you able to work on the truck today? Do you have a voltmeter to check the battery, and a charger to temporarily recharge it to get the keys out?

If you jump it from another vehicle, make sure to use the instructions in the Owner's Manual instead of jumping it to the threaded studs on the fuse block just to the rear of the battery. If you do that, you'll blow the $8 Megafuse and lose your interior lights, heater blower, and radio.
 
Joan Crawl said:
Breaks are locked-cannot remove key from ignition-no power,cannot go to work....any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies and suggestions,however it was something really simple that I would have never thought of...but the battery contacts were corroded..lol...for all that I missed a 10 hour shift.. I probably needed the break anyway but not the stress.I travel 60 mls. to work ea. day and I put 63,000 mls on the road since January, and the only maintenance that I've done was change the fluids and keep the tires rotated, so I guess I got off easy this year.
I'll tell you though, this site is going to my favs. bar because you guys are very informative...thanks again
 
Joan Crawl said:
Thanks for the replies and suggestions,however it was something really simple that I would have never thought of...but the battery contacts were corroded..lol...for all that I missed a 10 hour shift.. I probably needed the break anyway but not the stress.I travel 60 mls. to work ea. day and I put 63,000 mls on the road since January, and the only maintenance that I've done was change the fluids and keep the tires rotated, so I guess I got off easy this year.
I'll tell you though, this site is going to my favs. bar because you guys are very informative...thanks again
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I was shocked to find my truck dead one morning. It confused me because I was thorough cleaning the surrounding area of the battery and cleaned the bolts going into the battery about a year ago. It was only a year old battery at the time which made it even more confusing. So I decided to dig a little deaper thinking it was a cable loose or something. As it turned out I had corroded battery bolts. It wasnt the part of the bolt that screws in the side of the battery that was corroded. It was the actual contact surface of the bolt with the terminal end of the wires. The bolt is encased into the red and black boots on the end of the terminals. So you might want to dig a little deeper and check that portion of the bolts as well. This surface is just as important as the portion that screws into the battery because the wire terminal makes electrical contact with the bolt here first.

I found an excellent description of this type of battery cable issue here:

http://www.sparkys-answers.com/2011/09/2004-gmc-envoy-no-crank-condition.html
 
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