GM ignition switch recall???

[zieg85]

What's the deal???  Anyone actually have theirs fixed???  I can't believe the fix given for all the hub bub around this safety recall?  Anyone have any actual info or link to it?

[LTZ C20]

I deal with the recall every day and have been since it came out. What exactly do you want to know?

[zieg85]

Is the fix just centering the key and add 2 rings to it to space the remote farther away? 

[LTZ C20]

The idea is that in the event of a drastic maneuver of the vehicle, say a rear ending or loosing control and sliding off the road or a very heavy pot hole, the weight of the keys hanging from the ignition will cause the keys to swing over and turn the ignition off. This will disable power steering, airbags,  abs, the safety features in the cars. The new ignition switch/cylinder and keys prevent the key from having multiple key rings attached to it. The switch has been redesigned so that only deliberate key rotation happens, this being actually reaching down and turning the key with your hand.

Now GM can't stop people from putting multiple rings on after the single key ring but with only a small hole for one ring, they can say they designed it for one.

I don't know how many incidents or crashes or deaths have happened as a result of the this unintentional key rotation. But people are going to do what they want no matter what. Lots of people only have the key or key and remote and lots of people have they key and every other key and do dad they can possibly find. People will load down the keys for any vehicle. I've seen keys that felt like a house brick they had so much crap on them.

It's never a good idea to have alot of weight on any keys for any vehicle. Personally,  my truck keys have the ignition key and alarm remote, any other keys for the truck, trailer hitches and such, have there own ring in the center console and all other keys are on a ring on my belt loop.

Now I'm not gonna say that if you only have the key and remote then your probably fine, but GM says it's only designed for key and remote and designed to avoid large heavy key chains.

Personally I think it's a bit rediculous because you can't expect a company to be responsible for what they general public puts on there keys. How long has GM been making keys with a large or rectangle hole at the end?? For a very long time. But when there are accidents and lives lost then the public, tho they may not understand the way it's supposed to work expect some sort of accountability. I think it's hog wash.

2015 Silverado keys still have a large rectangular key hole at the top, so the recall only affects curtain makes and models under GM. But the Lord only knows what is to come in the future.

[Engineer]

33 deaths have been "attributed" to the GM ignition switch. Whether it was a direct result who knows. Some of these people it was just their time. Some involved alcohol. Many were a result of the driver not paying attention to their responsibilities as a driver.

Mostly it is a hoax to make trial lawyers rich.

[roundhouse]

I thought the airbags were supposed to stay hot for a certain amount of time after a crash

So in the event  of a two part crash
First one wipes out the battery  then second one is serious and needs airbags to blow

Like hitting one vehicle  bouncing off and hitting a tree

The airbags don't have Capacitors or something to detonate them if the main battery cable is cut ?

Also out of the 33 deaths.   They are all
Women

What's up wih that ?

We're they all just chick cars or is it because women have tons of crap on their key rings ?

And GM knew about it for years and did nothing

Just like Ford and their explorer tires

[LTZ C20]

As far as I know, when the system is turned off and/or there is no power, the air bags will not work. I could be wrong tho. The cars involved are smaller, lower end vehicles. With the exception of the impala's which are full size sedans.

I have no dought, alcohol,  lack of driver responsibility and other factors probably play a role in these accidents. Yes I guess you could say that they might be "chick cars" but there are just lower budget cars for low budget families,  kids that go to school and college or people who just don't need anything fancy. They are relatively inexpensive, come in a few different models, some decent options and good on gas.

I have not seen anything to that would make me believe that women carry more crap on keys than men, from what I have seen it's about equal. It seems more that younger people carry more crap then middle aged adults to older people. High school and colleges age people.

[jaredts]

I have a 2008 Cobalt and had my ignition switch replaced.  I got the small hole key, but that is not the "meat" of the fix or the problem.  The problem is that the detent spring that gm specified for the switch did not meet gm's own specifications for the torque required to turn the key from one position to another, but they used it anyway.  The updated switch uses a longer spring:http://www.ibtimes.com/gm-recall-2014-pictures-tiny-ignition-switch-part-could-cost-general-motors-dearly-photos-1561011  Personally, I don't think this story is worth all of the hype.  I bought my Cobalt new and have never had another car that came close to it in reliability (pretty good for a car I paid $12k new for).  At almost 100k miles I haven't even put new brake pads on it (they're still over 1/4" thick).  GM made a mistake, but it isn't causing thousands of deaths.

[zieg85]

So the ignition switch is replaced as well or on a case by case basis?  My 06 Lucerne has not been in yet but my friends 02 Impala all they did was the key... Just wondering

[LTZ C20]

Jared is correct.

Zieg, those are 2 different recalls. This should clear things up:

Recall #1: The ignition switch/cylinder and 2 keys applies to the following vehicle models: Chevy Cobalt (2 and 4 door), Chevy HHR and Saturn Ion (2 1/2 and 4 door). Don't qoute me on this but I believe the recall applies to all and if not almost all of these vehicles.

Recall #2: This recall requires that 2 plastic inserts be glued into the key head to create a smaller key ring hole. If the inserts do not work, the entire key head is to be encased in a plastic cover with a small key ring hole, this too is glued on. If neither the insert or cover will fit or work properly, the key is replaced with a new one with a small key hole. This recall applies to curtain vehicles models such as Chevy Impala (various years), Cadillac CTS (various years), Buick Lucerne (various years). Also, it's not super glue, we are instructed by GM to use a special glue that is a 3 part system using curtain glue.

There are a few other recalls about ignition switches but they apply to different vehicles and do not use the same parts as the ones mentioned above.

Now I don't declare any of this as fact, but since the recalls have been coming out, the vehicles mentioned above are the only ones we have been doing these recalls too.

If you have any questions as to if your vehicle has a recall you should call your local dealer and  they can tell you for sure. If your vehicle has a recall for anything you should receive a letter in the mail from GM.

[zieg85]

Jared is correct.

Zieg, those are 2 different recalls. This should clear things up:

Recall #1: The ignition switch/cylinder and 2 keys applies to the following vehicle models: Chevy Cobalt (2 and 4 door), Chevy HHR and Saturn Ion (2 1/2 and 4 door). Don't qoute me on this but I believe the recall applies to all and if not almost all of these vehicles.

Recall #2: This recall requires that 2 plastic inserts be glued into the key head to create a smaller key ring hole. If the inserts do not work, the entire key head is to be encased in a plastic cover with a small key ring hole, this too is glued on. If neither the insert or cover will fit or work properly, the key is replaced with a new one with a small key hole. This recall applies to curtain vehicles models such as Chevy Impala (various years), Cadillac CTS (various years), Buick Lucerne (various years). Also, it's not super glue, we are instructed by GM to use a special glue that is a 3 part system using curtain glue.

There are a few other recalls about ignition switches but they apply to different vehicles and do not use the same parts as the ones mentioned above.

Now I don't declare any of this as fact, but since the recalls have been coming out, the vehicles mentioned above are the only ones we have been doing these recalls too.

If you have any questions as to if your vehicle has a recall you should call your local dealer and  they can tell you for sure. If your vehicle has a recall for anything you should receive a letter in the mail from GM.

Crystal Clear explanation, thanks so much.  Makes sense now, different vehicles may get different things done.

[Irish_Alley]

dont know if its true for all but the impala lock cylinder is in the dash. dont know if its the design of it but it easier to turn
back in 07 i wrecked my 2004 impala (with the help of some raccoons) not one air bag went off. radio was still on lol but the radio is on a delay anyway

[LTZ C20]

Zieg, your welcome. Irish, I'm sorry to hear that. That particular impala body style I believe could have had the "glue type insert" recall, but I can't say for sure, we have done many like that tho. I know what you mean by the cylinder feeling easier to turn. If GM had thought that was an issue I'm sure they would have addressed it, maybe because it mounts in the dash and not on the column the "swing" idea doesn't apply??

As for your airbags not deploying, as you can see in your 2nd pic, there was no direct impact to the front of the car. The sensors are up front (behind bumper I think) and since they most likely didn't get triggered, they didn't deploy. I don't think those had side impact air bags, my 03 tahoe does not have side impact either, only the frontal impact sensors that I know of. If the car did have side impact sensors then I don't know what to tell ya. System got disabled during accident some how?? I'm sure there could be a few reasons.

[audrima]

irish, it looks like your wreak was what is called "at speed roll over" in this cases air bags don't go off due to being Worse for the people inside. also airbags don't go off below a set speed or above a set speed for the same reason.

[Irish_Alley]

each front seat as side airbags. car rolled up but never went 1/4 turn. i was going 60+ on a back road last time i looked at the speedo i was going 70+ something told me to slow down im only going to work and im not late. swerved to avoid a family of raccoons playing in the road. they scared me i thought it was a bag of trash then when i got about 15 ft away from it it just separated. my reaction was to jerk the wheel. normally i would of just ran it over but some reason i swerved still ran one over. no shoulder so my left tires went into the grass and came back around went across the road sideways and went into a tax ditch. hit where two ditches came together and made a "T" i hit the 90° corner car rolled up and then fell back on its wheels.

dont really have that many keys on the ring so idk. but either way im still here and it was kind of a wake up call (to a point). i got married to my gf of 6 years. a month after the accident i ran up on some county cops about 100ft from my accident. i was still speeding not as bad but was going over the 35-45 limit. cop pulls me over and recognized me, and asked "aint you the one who just had that wrench right here" this was my big wake up call.

i was the type that would wait till i got on a main road before i put on my belt. this all changed after this i was only a few miles away from home. now it coes on right after the truck/car starts