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Broke key off in the ignition. How do I get it out?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Tynyyn, Jan 5, 2023.

  1. Tynyyn

    Tynyyn Member

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    2013 Prius 274K miles

    I moved my Prius today and when I shut off the engine and pulled out the key fob, the lower half of the fob remained in the ignition. I've tried the search feature on this site to no avail. One thread implied the power needs to be disconnected and then the un-energized ignition might give up the fob. IDK

    Anyone have this issue and resolved it? Does it call for pulling the dash and using brute force to get the fob out of the ignition? hehe

    Thanks for any help.

    Tynyyn
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    can you post a pic of the half that came out? my 2012 doesn't have an ignition slot, it's totally sks.
    i didn't even know they made a gen 3 with fob slot, is it package 1?
     
  3. Tynyyn

    Tynyyn Member

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    I fixed it. Talk about the walk of shame........ First of all, I posted this in the wrong forum. I've got a 2005 and didn't notice the forum heading, so I just threw this into the first forum which had my year model. UGH, talk about facepalming one's self.

    Next.....I looked down into the passenger side foot well and LOW AND BEHOLD there was the bottom half of the fob. Take the fob and place it on a flat surface. The top half will have the door opening buttons while the bottom half is just a thin piece of plastic with a curved lip that houses the spare key release knob.

    These two pieces came apart when I extracted my fob from the ignition and I did not realize that the bottom half had landed in the passangers foot well. Thus, the fob was not stuck in the ignition, just seperated by a couple of feet and a dunderheaded owner. Looking at the fob I now know what happened. The knob that releases the spare key somehow disengaged while I was pulling the fob out of the ignition and seperated. I didn't realize that until I found the bottom half of the fob. Once I put all three pieces back together again the fob was intact and worked perfectly.

    I'm thinking the older these cars become the more quirky incidents like this will occur. Maybe this write up will help someone in the future or give them an idea of where to begin to fix the problem.

    If anything I hope I gave a chuckle to those who have read this followup. Thanks for reading and for the inquisitiveness.
     
    #3 Tynyyn, Jan 5, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2023
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    LOL, that was a good one. i had no idea the software automatically changes the model year
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    And that first post? Brain fart? :ROFLMAO:
     
  6. Tynyyn

    Tynyyn Member

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    Would you believe I was working on my wife's 2013 Nissan Armada this morning and somehow that year stuck into my brain while I was writing the original post? Well, that's what happened. Brain farts or just plain old age is taking its toll on how my brain processes information. Yea, I am willing to take the ribbing because I brought it upon myself. Please bear with me while I sort out my Prius.......and my brain.
     
    burebista, bisco and Mendel Leisk like this.
  7. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Even while on wine I know that I’m on the turd gen forum. You must have wine w stronger alcohol content!
     
  8. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    So it was the plastic piece that covers the 2032 FOB battery? Not the bottom half of the actual case? Does your case actually go that deep into the slot? I haven't used it in forever.

    I was trying to picture the amount of effort it would have taken to yank on that thing to actually make the case split. I know the OEM cases are glued together, but aftermarket ones just snap together, and I've wondered how well they would hold up to abuse.
     
  9. Tynyyn

    Tynyyn Member

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    Well, since my Prius was manufactured in 2005 and I've owned it for maybe ten years, all I can say is that a key fob that is 18 years old, I'm very happy with how long the fob has held together. Every day when I am done with the fob I casually toss it into our bowl of key rings and forget about it. Through the day is sits nicea nd tidy within my front pants pocket. Does this tossing and jostling somehow contribute to the breakdown of both halves? Probably. Heck, maybe I just grabbed the keys on the fob and yanked really hard and that caused the case to seperate. I'm just glad it went back together like it was brand new.