bsdzine Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 I'm sure many of you already know this, but I just found this out when messing with my car. If this is a repost, sorry mods - tried to search, but didn't come up with this conclusion. I don't know if it's a security measure for our cars, but if the steering wheel slightly turns when the car is off (keys are not in ignition), the ignition will LOCK. You will be able to put the key in, but not turn it to any desired setting (acc, on, start). To fix: Given the direction the wheel was turned to LOCK the ignition, simply (some muscle is required) turn the wheel to that given direction, then back in the other direction... WHILE you are putting pressure on the steering wheel in either given direction (this is key!), put your keys in and turn the car on! Whallah! You just saved yourself a flatbed trip to your local dealer. Yes, it seems simple, but I had no idea and I'm sure I'm not the only one! I was about to call a tow and have this fixed, but my friend who is a subaru tech told me to try out this method first - if you can't get it to work from this, try again with more muscle, then call a tow if needed. Cheers! Edit: Just realized this should probably have been posted in the "Warranty & Other Problems" forum - oops! brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampedxpinoy Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 ha i had this problem in my car once. i parked on top of a snow mound, not too big, but i guess as it melted my wheels turned even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftride Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 this is common in all the cars i have driven...glad you didnt call a tow truck:) *vb gallery* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsdzine Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 this is common in all the cars i have driven...glad you didnt call a tow truck:) lol never had a problem in any of my other cars with this. at first I freaked out, tried to check the forum for a solution but came up empty and called my subaru tech friend. he just laughed at me and told me to twist my steering wheel while turning the key I figured i'd post it up incase another n00b like me doesn't know how to fix it! brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftride Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 i remember in HS a buddy of mine did this with his parents car, he freaked out too and didnt know who to call. i told him to pull the wheel and turn the key and he was off and running. not sure when i found out the solution, but i bet it would freak a lot of people out. i should go around turning people's steering wheels and then not tell them how to fix it *vb gallery* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsdzine Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 ^ lol, 98% would freak out as I did!! kinda reminds me of my old grand am gt, to turn off the change oil light, you had to hit the brake/gas in such a random combination while turning the key to acc then start then back to acc it was ridiculous. kinda like hitting 'up up down down left right left right B A Select Start' to get 30 lives in contra brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Ahhh, the video game generation Next thing you'll be saying that you don't know how to bump start a car Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsdzine Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 The hell is a 'bump start'? I remember the good old days of using my old car as the bump starter for my neighbor. Just put a beach towel between the bumpers and gave them a good push up the hill 'til it would start! <-- perma n00b and btw phil, i cannot look at any post by you anymore, your avatar makes me wanna barf my face off. brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdoggydog Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Bsdzine - this is common in all cars. It's not Subaru specific. Phil - what the heck is that in your avatar? Are we supposed to think it's somthing gross but it's really a shot of your "elbow" or something like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouar Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 This happened allll the time in my first Ford Contour. When it happened to me in my Probe, I panicked and called AAA (it didn't help that the driver's door lock broke the week before). I felt like a fool because I should have known better from my first car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Just be happy that it wasn't a SAAB, the ignition lock requires you to put the gear into reverse on MT gearboxes before you can remove the key! This has been the case on many SAAB:s, but I don't know about the latest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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