Key does not come out ignition, have to push safety button under steering wheel to release keys
2006 Chevrolet HHR electrical complaints
Page 7 of 9: complaints 161 to 190 of 222, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated while attempting to exit the vehicle, from the drivers side, the interior door handle fractured. The contact was unable to access the exterior door handle and fifteen minutes later, he was assisted in exiting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for the failure where he was advised that the entire door would need replacing in order to correct the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the door handle remained fractured. In addition, the keys would sporadically become stuck in the ignition and the contact would have to engage the emergency release button in order to disengage the keys. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where he was advised that the ignition lock cylinder and remote would need replacing. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 21,000 and the current mileage was 27,920. Updated 05/25/11 *bf updated 1/5/12
Key will not come out of the ignition when in park due to a plastic part in the shifter breaking. This will not allow the shift lock actuator to engage and release the keys. There is an ignition unlocking mechanism under the steering column but that leaves the gear shifter able to move freely from gear at all times, even while driving. This is occurs everyday. The dealer replaces at the owner's expense with the same defective part.
Few issues that several people also have discussed on the web: **transmission hard shifting. Still an issue, garages and dealer have not been able to resolve **key not coming out of ignition. Recent issue not fixed yet. May be transmission interlock issue based on internet discussions **leak and water gets in car. Gets my heat blower wet and blows out a part and I only have off and high fan settings. Ongoing issue as well.
2006 chevrolet hhr. Consumer states several problems with vehicle *tgw the consumer stated his sons vehicle had a severe shimmy in the steering wheel and became progressively worse when the brake was applied. The pads and rotors were replaced twice and the third time the rotors were machined, but the problem continued. There was also a strange noise coming from the front suspension, but the dealer was unable to pinpoint the problem. At 42,000 miles the air condition made a loud screeching noise for 2 minutes, then stopped working. At 68,000 miles, a metal skid plate had fallen from underneath the vehicle. Soon after, the exhaust was very loud. The vehicle was taken to the repair shop and the consumer was informed the catalytic converter had cracked. The vehicle lost power and a cylinder had to be replaced, the check engine light would come on and then go off, the temperature gauge did not work, so the air condition only worked if the check engine light was off. The door locks did not work, the radio worked intermittently, the sun visor would fall down at random times. There were times when the vehicle would not start. The consumer stated even with an alignment, new struts, shocks and good tires, the vehicle continually pulled to the right.
Power steering went out turning. Made it hard to steer, almost hit another car. You can cut car off to restart the ps.
My key continues to get stuck in the ignition. About 4 months ago this happened and I took my car back to the dealer,they charged me $50.00 to get the key out they say they greased the ignition I guess. I was looking through my car manual and it tells you how to get the key out of the ignition.I don't think the dealer charging me $50.00 was fair. Is there some way that can be fixed? I can not afford $50.00 and I'm get tired of putting my finger in the hole under the steering wheel to release the key.
Power steering fail while I was driving my 2006 hhr. Makes it hard to turn.
Turned on the ignition and the dashboard gauges all went out. Pulled the fuse and reinserted it - problem corrected. T/c indicator on instrument panel came on and the transmission was upshifting hard. Again, I removed and reinstalled the fuses and the problem went away. Power steering warning was displayed on the dash and the power steering was disabled. I removed and reinstalled the fuse associated with the power steering and the problem went away. I did notice that most of the fuses were mildly oxidized on one leg of each fuse.
2006 hhr with automatic transmission. Repair light lit with codes indicating internal transmission problems and bad connections in electrical system. Several trips to mechanic localized problem to connector plug on transmission. Harness wire is too short and drivetrain flex causes strain on plug resulting in failure of connector pins in plug.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated when the vehicle was placed in park, the key would not release from the ignition. The contact was concerned that the vehicle could possibly roll away when the vehicle was parked because the computer would not register that the vehicle was in the park position. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileage was 73,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. While driving approximately 45 MPH the vehicle stalled several times and would not restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer stated that the failure was electrical, but was not able to locate the exact area were the electrical failure originated. The manufacturer will be contacted. The failure and current mileages were 50,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated the gear shift would not move from gear to gear while the vehicle was in operation. In addition, the contact stated that the key would come out of the ignition without the vehicle being locked in the park position. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The failure and current mileages were 43,000. Updated 10/27/10.
Key is unable to be removed from the ignition when car is in park. During the last two months I have had to use the release switch under the steering wheel every time I turn the vehicle off. I have taken the vehicle into the dealership, but because I am now out of warranty they would not offer any repair solutions without a costly inspection.
2006 chevrolet hhr: cannot remove key from ignition in park. Has happened at least 5 times in last week. Finally yesterday I had to leave key in ignition at work. Came back later to remove - battery was dead. Jumping battery stump under hood was of no use - could not open rear hatch to get to battery. Had it towed for repair. Analysis, battery and labor cost me $200 as the gm protection plan I pay for every month would not cover the problem. Also asked service rep to look into why shifter moves while driving, thinking this might have something to do with ignition and battery problems. He could not find anything wrong. This seems like it could be a potential problem while driving. Gm protection plan rep and tow truck driver both said this happens a lot on this type of vehicle.
Ignition key does not come out of the steering column it is stuck in the ignition ,car starts and shuts off but the key cannot be removed.
Ignition will not turn to lock and key cannot be removed.
To whom it may concern, I recently had repair work done on my wife's 2006 hhr lt2. The problem we were having was that she would randomly lose power steering with a warning chime and a notification on the instrument panel. This would be temporarily resolved by restarting the vehicle. I wasted little time and had it tested at classic chevrolet in sugar land,tx. They soon discovered that the power steering motor was faulty. I had them replace it. Now I've been a lifelong gm customer and I was very disappointed with this expense, not only was it a failure unassociated to neglect but it was also a very dangerous problem. This problem is also highly documented on the web by many other hhr owners. After gm announced the recall of 1.3mil vehicles with this problem. The hhr was not listed yet but the chevy cobalt and pontiac g5 were. The hhr shares the same power steering motor as the cobalt and g5. Gm part # 20763801. Jtekt north america is the producer of this motor. From what I discovered on the internet, gm has filed a lawsuit against jtekt in response to this issue. It is still unclear to me how gm has not included this model in there recall. I have recently been denied reimbursement by chevrolet for my expenses.
Key gets stuck / can not turn to off position and remove the key. If you can not remove the key within an hour, your battery will be depleted. There is an actuating rod in the shifter that pushes a micro switch that completes a circuit to pull a solenoid in the steering column to allow the ignition switch to be tuned to the off position (and remove the key) when in park. The plastic part in the shifter assembly breaks and allows the actuating rod to fall out. The fix for this is to replace the shifter assembly. $185 not including labor. The quick fix for this is there is a plastic plug on the under side of the steering column. Inside you have to feel for the end of that solenoid and depress it to release the key. Gm tsb #06-07-30-004f acknowledges the common occurrence of this failure from 2006 to 2010 hhr, cobalt, and pontiac g5 . Although, if you are out of warranty, your dealer may be reluctant to fix this problem without cost. Tires, ball joints, brakes, what have you, fail and are, no doubt, a common occurrence. If fact that is to be expected. But the shifter in an automatic? I would think that the shifter in an automatic should last the lifetime of the car. Imo, they installed a poorly made part. To me, this is obvious since they are stating in that tsb, 2006 - 2010 shifter are expected to fall apart as mine did. I have a 1965 plymouth belvedere, the oldest car in my possession, that the shifter never needed to be repaired. In fact I've never had an automatic shifter problem with any car. It was stated in a forum that gm should have considered a metal collar or ring around the plastic bit that holds that pin to reinforce it and this problem would have never become a nuisance. Also, when that pin falls out, the shift lever is free to move without pressing the shift button on the front of the shift lever, so it could accidentally be moved to another gear while driving, even reverse!! I guess that is not enough of a safety issue for gm to worry about.
I bought my car brand new and sometimes without warning the engine light comes on and you only have a few seconds to pull over before it shuts down. Sometimes the light comes on when I'm stopped at a red light and the whole car starts shaking as if you popped the clutch too fast, except this car is an automatic. I have found through trail and error if I start messing with the computer buttons on the steering wheel that changes the information that is displayed on the dash board it will sometimes reset itself and act okay. Other times I have to let it sit for over 20 minutes before it will start up again. There is no set time this occurs, sometimes it happens a few times a day and other times it will go a month without happening. It shuts down at various speeds. Sometimes I'm going 65 miles and hour and other times I'm going 20 MPH. I have brought the car back to the dealer but they told me they can't fix it until they reenact the problem. Each time they have had the car they could not reenact the problem, yet they said they can see there is a problem when they read the computer. I paid $20,000 for this car and am scared to drive it. I can't drive on the highway for fear it will shut down again. I have to take the back roads to get around.
Could not remove key from ignition with gear selector in park. This condition was remedied by pushing the gear selector hard into park for a while. Then total failure came when no amount of pushing the gear selector hard into park would allow the key to be removed. I removed the gear shift cover and reached in and found a micro switch that when tripped allowed me to remove key. I called local dealer and chevrolet factory toll free line and they did not say this was a known defect. I purchased replacement part # 25864102. I personally installed this and it fixed the problem. There is a steel pin in the gear selector plastic shift rod. The plastic is week and allowed the pin to drift approx 1/2" to left which would not allow the key removal micro switch to be tripped as it should be to allow the key to be removed from the ignition lock cylinder. I called chevrolet back (tel # 1‑866‑790‑5600) and they set up case # 71-781779261. They told me to take defective part to the dealer and they would contact the dealer to analyze the part for reason of failure. I took the part to the dealer service manager12/4/09. I called chevrolet several weeks later and they said the dealer threw the part away since chevrolet did not contact them promptly. I had ask for chevrolet to refund the cost of the part only (no labor) but chevrolet says they can't help since the part is now gone. I later searched on the internet http://www.mycarstats.com/ and found many cases like mine (apparently chevy cobalt shares gear shift mechanism basic internal design style). I called chevrolet back, they still deny this is a recurring problem. This is a safety problem because you have to leave your car with the key in it when the failure occurs. Apparently this may also drain the battery because all circuits are not shutoff when you cannot rotate the key far enough to remove the key. I fear that my replacement part may not last either. The car was ~ 48 mo old and ~ 47,000 miles when total failure occurred.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. While driving approximately 35 MPH, his vehicle would shut off completely and he had have no power in the vehicle. He shut the engine off for approximately an hour or more and the failure would correct itself. The failure occurred intermittently. He also stated that at times when he tried to start the vehicle, he had a difficult time removing the key from the ignition. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified about the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was approximately 45,000. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000. Updated 3/4/2010 *cn updated 05/20/10.
The key to my 2006 hhr would not come out of the ignition. As a result the automatic headlights would not go out and the vehicle could not be locked. This happened while I was traveling, which put my personal safety at risk and if I left my vehicle for any reason it could have easily been stolen. I have been online and found that several other owners have experienced this problem.
2006 new vehicle purchase serviced 8 times for multiple failures related to either electrical/braking/ABS/ wheels/emissions/ traction control/computer/power steering and or computer issues/all repaired/and resolved at gm dealer/vehicle can not be driven safely when issue occurs the failed system in question overrides driver last incident failure occurred in heavy traffic resulting in removal from service which took 3 weeks to repair/had the conditions been different this may have resulted in a crash.
Parked 2005 chevy hhr and key would not disengage from ignition. This is permanent until an new shift assembly is installed as the solenoid holding the key is locked. This happened in the parking lot at the local community college. Having the key locked in the ignition makes the vehicle theft prone. This malfunction is not a driving hazard but creates a theft hazard if it happens where the vehicle cannot be secured, like my home garage.
I couldn't remove the ignition keys from my 2006 chevy hhr. The dealer advised that this was a common complaint with hhr's and cobalt's and that the entire shifter assembly needed to be replaced, at my cost since the warranty had expired. I investigated the issue on on-line forums and found the issue was as follows: " a small actuator rod that goes through the shifter stalk falls out due to the stalk cracking where the rod goes through it. The key release then never gets activated so you have to use the manual release button on the bottom of the steering column. This shifter unit is completely unserviceable and the entire shifter block has to be replaced.note that with no actuator rod the shift lever is free to move without pressing the shift button on the front of the shift lever, so it could accidentally be moved to another gear while driving, even reverse. ... Chevy is wrong for putting such a cheap and flimsy device on the car." this is point that I made to the gm customer complaints department but they stuck to their guns that warranty had expired. To my way of thinking even the replacement shifter is at risk in the future with having the same problem. Reading other on-line complaint logs, I note that because of the cost of replacement, it was being advocated that simply using the manual release button on the steering column was an acceptable solution to the problem. Obviously this leaves driver's in a potentially dangerous position if the shifter is accidentally moved while the car is moving. As such I feel that there is reason to have gm recall these vehicles to replace these "cheap" shifters and to reimburse owners such as myself that have incurred steep replacement costs.
Consumer wants to know if there is a recall on the front bumper of her 2006 chevrolet hhr. *nj the consumer stated there was a problem with the gear shift and the door latches began to move up and down. Also, the vehicle started acting erratic while driving. Updated 09/13/10
Heat/A/C switch only works on high. Brought to dealer in july or aug of 2008. It was making a screeching noise on settings 3 &4, then it got very quiet and only worked on the highest setting. Was told it was a problem with the resistor for the fan switch. Was told they had the part and it would be replaced under warranty. In september of 2008 it happened again. As the weather in sc has been tolerable, I did not immediately take it back in for re-service, but did mention it the 2 times I has stopped into dealer for oil changes and 6000 mile service. Finally got a day off during the week, and did go to see about this again about the first week in may. Was told that it would cost me 300.00. I stated it was recurring and that it should have been fixed correctly the first time when they had to replace the resistor. Was told they only took it apart and blew out the system, what ever that means. My parents bought the same car, but a 2007 - same thing, they have not bothered to bring it in yet but I am sure they will get wailed with replacement cost as well. Has this happened to alot of other people out there? I am sort of thinking this is more than just a coincidence.
Ignition switch will not turn to full off position and key cannot be removed. First occurrence, after shifting from park to drive and back and restarting car the switch turned to full off position and key could be removed. Second occurrence -switch would not disengage, could not remove keys. I removed the small cover from the bottom of the steering wheel to gain access to the internal switch assembly. I used my finger to push the mechanism inside the steering wheel so the key could be turned off and removed from the ignition.
Purchased 2006 hhr new in 07/06. In 06/07 started the car and the electronic odometer, the speedometer, the tachometer, temperature gauge, oil pressure all were not registering. Nothing. Pulled over turned off the car. Started and nothing. Turned off the car an additional time and all lights and gauges started working. Took it to a local dealership/service. Could not replicate the issue. I have had in the shop on 7 different occasions for the same reason. It additionally will cause the digital clock on the radio to go out/flash, the air bag sensor to flash. They have replaced two electronic parts, one of them being the electronic control module. Around thanksgiving of 2008 I had started my car and all the lights and gauges again would not work. I took it to the dealership and the general manager was able to verify that this was occurring. They had the car for 10 days and replaced the electronic part. The car still does the same thing. No rhyme no reason. At night you can open a door, close it and see lights in the radio randomly flashing. I am concerned and awaiting the day that the car just dies while driving it. They have never been able to locate the issue and told me that I am the only one with any problems of this type.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2006 Chevrolet HHR?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history