Some 80s Nissans and Toyotas feature a button near the ignition cylinder which must be depressed in order to remove the key. I can not fathom what purpose this serves, except to irritate me. What the heck is this for?
Some 80s Nissans and Toyotas feature a button near the ignition cylinder which must be depressed in order to remove the key. I can not fathom what purpose this serves, except to irritate me. What the heck is this for?
I have no idea why but I find the mechanism is usually worn out so you can remove the key without pressing the button and turning it all the way off which leaves key on power to a few things resulting in a dead battery on our little shop Nissan 4 times a month.
To be fair it is usually done by our cleanup guy who is almost deaf so he can't hear the door chime when he does this.
Avoid the GM ignition key debacle??
Just about every manual transmission car I've driven has the same thing. The Supercoupe has it. It keeps you from accidentally locking the steering wheel while driving. Automatic transmissions did the same thing through the shifter linkage.
80's fords where the same way. I know my 86 Mustang has that.
My '80 Toyota had it. My '03 BMW does not. I can't remember if my '95 Plymouth did or not, but I think it did.
My 80s Mazdas do not have it, but my '85 MR2 does. Hence the question.
I can (easily) pull the ignition key out of the cylinder of the '88 RX-7 while the car is running. Not sure if that's a bug or a feature.
Good question. I always figured it was some sort of requirement to meet regulation.
My Omni GLHs had that feature as well. Jeeps had a lever you'd push down as well.
I have had that in the past. I never really thought about it.
Its a mechanism to engage the steering lock without putting extra stress on the ignition key. My 2K Silverado has one.
I hate it.
New vehicles, which have fully electronic ignition switched instead of electric ones, often don't have a steering lock. I presume the engineers don't trust the electrons to do what they are supposed to do all the time.
My 86 Nissan truck has one. It's second nature now and I actually to think if I had one.
Streetwiseguy wrote: Its a mechanism to engage the steering lock without putting extra stress on the ignition key.
Not necessarily, because (thinking back) on my 2 '95 Neon sedans (both made in Rockford within a month of each other), the ATX car did not have one, but the MTX did.
I think there's some regulation about it, presumably makes you think twice before pulling the key out of a stick car and walking away without setting the parking brake and/or putting it in gear. It must not have been a requirement in 88, on my Yugo you could turn it right off and yank it out, though it didn't lock until the key was withdrawn, so maybe Yugo got by that way.
Same feature as many Toyotas and others have where you have to push the key inward a bit to turn it all the way off.
I think the comment about preventing accidental steering wheel lock is spot on.
My sentra doesn't have a button, the mechanism is in the cylinder and I push the key into the column as I turn it off. Much less clunky than a button, also a cleaner looking column too.
I've owned '40's, '50's, '60's, '70's, '90's, and '00's, and now a '14 ... I've never had to push a button to remove a key
wbjones wrote: I've owned '40's, '50's, '60's, '70's, '90's, and '00's, and now a '14 ... I've never had to push a button to remove a key
You've lucked out.
Our 2011 Honda Odity doesn't have one, but you have to push the key in past a detent to remove the key.
Duke wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote: Its a mechanism to engage the steering lock without putting extra stress on the ignition key.Not necessarily, because (thinking back) on my 2 '95 Neon sedans (both made in Rockford within a month of each other), the ATX car did not have one, but the MTX did.
On most automatic cars, there is an interlock cable running between the ignition lock and the shifter. Key off, no shift. No park, no get key off.
My foxbody mustangs have all had it, even the AT cars. Never bothered me anough to figure out why.
Streetwiseguy wrote: New vehicles, which have fully electronic ignition switched instead of electric ones, often don't have a steering lock. I presume the engineers don't trust the electrons to do what they are supposed to do all the time.
I've noticed that on the new Miatas. I don't think it's a matter of lack of trust in electrics - there have been remote ignition switches in various cars for years. My theory is that it was an anti-theft feature that is redundant with modern electronic keys.
most of the GM manuals I've owned have had a lever or something
JamesMcD wrote:wbjones wrote: I've owned '40's, '50's, '60's, '70's, '90's, and '00's, and now a '14 ... I've never had to push a button to remove a keyYou've lucked out.
actually I can't even think of one that has a button to push to remove the key ... I've had some that you had to push the key in to make the final click to be able to remove it .... but, like I said, don't remember even seeing one that had a button 
oh, and my '14 is a GM ... no button
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