Park Lock Solenoid (PLS) Removal
When I went to look at this car, the previous owner mentioned that the ignition key wouldn't come out every once in a while,
and he had to wait a few minutes before he would be able to take it out. I did some research, and found that this was a
common problem on the Grand Prix's; some times you can just wait, or you can manually release the key by depressing the park
lock solenoid via an access hole under the steering column. Having owned the car for about a year now, I've had to keep a
small screwdriver in the center console just in case the key didn't want to come out. What bothered me the most was the
inconsinstency of when the key wouldn't come out. I could drive around all day, stopping here and there, and sometimes
the key would come out fine, sometimes it wouldn't.
The easy fix for this problem is to remove the PLS. The only issue is that without the PLS, you can shut the car off while it is
in gear. I had some spare time today, so I decided to remove the PLS and put my small screwdriver back in my tool box.
Tilt the steering column up and remove the two torx bolts holding
the lower part of the steering column cover together.
Remove the cover; the rear is hinged to the top, so you need to push it towards the dash,
then down. I also had to remove the knee panel under the column to get the cover off.
The white plastic piece is the PLS.
Remove the PLS; it is attached to the pass-key module via a very small torx head bolt. I didn't have that small
of a socket, and the space is very tight, so I did as others have mentioned, which is to wiggle the PLS until the
mount tab breaks. The PLS also has a tab on the top, which you need long narrow screwdriver to depress the
tab while pushing the PLS towards the dash.
No more PLS. I taped up the wiring and put it all back together.
Close up of the PLS.
Resources:
GrandPrix Forums - Ignition Key and Park Lock Solenoid
GrandPrix Forums - Key Stuck In Ignition Lock Cylinder
If you have any comments, suggestions, or see any errors, please let me know..... cbradley@telus.net
Last updated on August 7/2011
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