Car shuts off key stuck in ignition

Tiny
MIKISTWINS
  • MEMBER
  • 2014 CHEVROLET CRUZE
  • 1.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 70,000 MILES
Driving car starts to act like it is going to shut off all the dash warning lights flash. Stop car turned car off and then it won't do anything. Key stuck in ignition. Take positive side off of battery and reattach and Key comes out. Car starts up and acts like nothing was ever wrong? What is problem?
Thursday, August 29th, 2019 AT 7:58 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Welcome to 2CarPros.

That's a tough one. The idea that the lights came on and the engine died leads me to believe it is an electrical issue. Also, disconnecting the battery may have reset something. At this point, is the check engine light staying on when the engine is running? Also, when you disconnected the battery, were the terminals clean and tight?

Let me know.

Joe
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Thursday, August 29th, 2019 AT 7:22 PM
Tiny
MIKISTWINS
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
First of all the engine didn't actually shuts off. When the warning lights started coming on my daughter stopped the car and turned it off. When she went to restart the car it was completely dead and the key was stuck in the ignition. When we took the battery cable off and then reconnected the terminals were very clean but, it solved the problem. We were able to remove the key and start the car and it seems fine. There are no lights on at all. We took it to see if maybe a code was stored but, there were no codes. Obviously something is wrong or this would not have happened. It almost seems as though it has to do with the anti theft feature shutting down the car but, we aren't sure? We have had the battery tested and it tested to be good. It seems we are definitely reseting the system when disconnecting the battery but, why is it happening to begin with?
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Thursday, August 29th, 2019 AT 8:21 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Welcome back:

I have to be honest, there is a chance one of the battery terminals was loose or not making a good contact. Since it reset when you disconnected and reconnected, you may have eliminated the problem. Has the problem happened since?

Joe
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Friday, August 30th, 2019 AT 8:48 PM

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