Broken ignition cylinder, have had mine replaced twice on my 09' first dealer took 3 days to fix it and did it wrong so 2 days later it broke again, second dealer had it fixed in 4 hours and haven't had a issue with it in the last few months.

 

+1. I have had mine fixed too, but only one. Mine broke turned off and had to be towed.

 

If I remember right, the same problem was happening to cobalts a few years ago and I believe there was a recall of sorts for that problem. I have an 06 and have not had problems but a co-worker also has an 06 and it happened to him.

 

Yeah seems to be a common problem around the forums. They have to replace the ignition cylinder as Mick said. I'm kind of surprised there isn't a recall on this as well, lol. It's happening to every model of Cobalt too, so don't feel you're alone.

 

Same thing happened to me friday, August 20 2010, would not shut off, luckily I was near the dealership, (sorry bunch of clowns) and after two hours, and dismantling the covering on the upper and lower of the steering column, finally removed the tumbler and key. installed new tumbler and two keys. Mechanic had rubbed againsst the door with his shoes, leaving gastly marks which I ended up washing off. Will never buy another GM product. Going to Hyundai......

 

Same thing happened to me friday, August 20 2010, would not shut off, luckily I was near the dealership, (sorry bunch of clowns) and after two hours, and dismantling the covering on the upper and lower of the steering column, finally removed the tumbler and key. installed new tumbler and two keys. Mechanic had rubbed againsst the door with his shoes, leaving gastly marks which I ended up washing off. Will never buy another GM product. Going to Hyundai......

Yeah, because nothing has ever been wrong with any Hyundai ever produced. lol

 

yea same thing happened to one of my buddys, several times and not near a dealer at all.. he had to get it towed..

 

Day before yesterday I arrived home and tried to turn off my 2009 Cobalt that is exactly one year old and only has 2500 miles on it...

Key would not come out of cylinder...car was running and I was not able to shut off...Popped clutch while in gear and shut off engine but now all dash is still hot as key is stuck in on position...Open trunk and disconnect battery cable..

Took vehicle to dealer who had to replace the entire cylinder, cut two new keys and reprogrammed the chips in the ignition...

Apparently the tumblers inside these cylinders are very small and are somewhat delicate...

Mechanic and I came to conclusion that the huge collection of other keys I had hanging off the ignition key ring that would swing as I was driving could have caused the damage to the tumblers..Too much weight hanging

Yall might think about you key rings...

Of course the service writer told me he has not seen very many Cobalts with this cylinder problem....Right!....lol

Have a good one...

 

Thanks guys,

It was the cylinder core. I do have to give my dealer credit though. I showed up with it that night at 7:30. The service manager met me there and rolled it in the garage, so it wouldn't sit out all weekend. They called Monday and it was finished. They also replaced the multi-function switch, which was starting to go because my turn signals would not always go out after turning. Everything was still under warranty. A decent experience to be sure.

 

Isn't there the cylinder release button under that vinyl cover on the bottom of the column?

 

I know there is on the autos.
Open the little cover under the column
and there is a release button.

 

They said not to worry about that... which I still don't understand. All I could find when I removed the cover was a bolt head and what looked like a little black box with wires stuffed in there. I never did find a button, or release lever of any kind. ?????

 

see this hasnt happen to me yet i had a similar problen off i went to go shut my car off but it would only turnn to acc. so i went and jus popd the trunk and unhookd the battery till next day and took it in and i ended up lockin my keys in the trunk but i had my spare but newy it ended up being i shift lock release button they tried makin me pay 250 and soon as i said i had a warranty they so oh ok its just a 50 dollar deduc

 

HOLY CRAP!!!! Dude, Are you ok? That post was freaking EPIC. I think you need to sit down.

 

Please say you were drunk when you typed that.