Well i went to get gas tonight and pulled up the the pump......tada my key was stuck. I tried the tick with the plunger under the column. It didnt work. The key was stuck like chuck. I got it home and pulled my the fuse to shut it down. Now I guess I have to take it to the dealer? Let me know if there are any fixes other that componet failure for this......... JOSH

 

No other fixes I'm afraid Josh, its a component failure plain and simple. The dealer will have to replace the ignition switch with a fresh one and you'll be back on the road.

Since I see you have a 2010, it should still be covered under your warranty.

 

My 2010 did it, was fixed in one hour as I waited, all under warranty.

 

Yikes!!!! So for an old man describe again your exact series of events that lead to your issue!

 

Hopefully they will be replacing the ignition lock cylinder. The ignition switch wouldn't fix this.

 

same thing happened in my wifes 2010 2lt hhr...less than 16k miles on it..returning from lunch break back at her job and uhh ohh the key would not turn off..over to the chevy dealership she went..they returned her to her job and about 15 min later they were back at her job with the hhr repaired..faulty ignition lock cylinder...parts manager said it is very common and they do about 1-2 of these a week on equinox, colorado, hhr, cobalts etc...so it was an item they keep plenty in stock..they have done so many that its like changing a battery he said...lol

 

I believe I read a TSB for this.

 

I have heard the same issues on Cobalts, should be covered under warranty.

 

So my wife took the car to the dealership for me. At first she laughed at me....she said really you can't turn the car off?That is the first time in my life I have ever had one fail in the ON position. The tech at the dealer told her that they see a few of them every week. The EXACT same problem. Cobalts do it too. The lock cylinder just fails. The key will go to the start and run position but nowhere else. I pulled the fuse to get it shut down. Pulled the negative lead from the battery to keep from draining it and then closed it up. My wife hooked it up and then just turned the key and took it to the dealership. They shut it down there and changed it out. I was only 600 miles away from warranty expiration, so I guess it happened in the knick of time. Problem solved no harm no foul. There is no way to predict it, there is no solid way to prevent it. My wife didn't get the old cylinder from the dealer. I was hoping to take it apart and find a failure point to see if there is anything we can do to keep this from happening again or to others. I don't know if it is a lubrication issue or just a plain old crappy design. Who knows. Till next time......JOSH

 

Glad they got you fixed up, its just one of those little quirks that HHR's are known for, now that you've been through it...wear it as a badge of honor.