Can't remove key from ignition

Forsaken

New Member
I have a '91 Integra LS. Automatic.When its cold outside and I turn the key to shut the car off, the motor will shut off, but I cant get the key out of the ignition until the parking light turns on (red) in the dash. Sometimes I have to wait 10 minutes for the parking light to turn on to be able to get the stinking key out.

Anybody have any suggestions what is causing this? I looked on google and it seems to be a relatively common problem but there werent any conclusive answers. :shock:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (if you havent figured out what im talking about yet and youre not tired of reading)

I had somebody who is a "mechanic" look at it and he said its the "parking solenoid", but Ive googled it, and gone through chiltons and cant even find something called the parking solenoid.
 
Last edited:

Jabes

Member
is it automatic? it might be your park switch if its auto, shouldn't be too expensive or hard to replace
 

Forsaken

New Member
Problem solved:

I'd attach photos but I dont have the capability. The piece that I needed to fix was the NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH. You can buy a new one for like $55, or you can just fix it like I did. You can see what this part looks like by google imaging it. It is located inside the center console on the passenger side. Basically put, the neutral safety switch consists of two plastic-covered pieces of metal that slide along each other. One of these sliding pieces of metal has a has a couple holes in it, each harboring a spring-loaded ball. These spring loaded balls are what is responsible for telling the car which gear it's in. The problem with my car was that these spring loaded balls were gummed up with old lube or something, which when cold, didnt allow the circuit to be completed because the balls would get stuck inside the tubes they're harbored in. I simply cleaned all the old gummy stuff out, put in some new lube, and everything worked just like new. Hope this shortens the duration of somebody's headache!
 
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