Questions and Answers

Jimmy Died Q. My girlfriends Jimmy hesitated and died on her. We could not jump start the car and all the lights were out. Thinking it may be a bad battery or alternator, we called a tow truck. When the tow got there, he was unable to put the car on his flat bed because the key, even though would turn into a start position, the car was dead and he could not put the car into neutral and then realized the key would not come out of the ignition.

The tow guy thought it could be more than just a bad battery or alternator. What do you think???

Thank you...

A. This sounds a little tricky. If the alternator went bad then the car would be running on the battery. When the battery drains below about 9 volts, the electric fuel pump would shut down. Once the pump shuts down the engine dies.

Now this is where it gets tricky, the shift interlock is electrically operated and unless the battery was totally dead, there should be enough to operate the solenoid and let you move the shifter. It is quite possible that internally, the battery has an open which would render it useless. That would explain not being able to shift it into neutral. So on the surface I would say it is a problem with the battery.

The thing that throws me is that you can't turn the key to get it out. Bad battery or not, the key should come out. I think the two problems are not related. My feeling is that a new battery and a check on the alternator will fix your main problem and that you will need to look at the key cylinder for the other problem.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA