As per subject, engine is stopped, transmission is in P, and green light on key socket/dock is on but the key is stuck there.
Any solution? what is the part number for key dock/socket if I want to replace?

So far the solution is leave it there and only when I want to start engine, open the bonnet, disconnect and reconnect again the battery and start the engine.

Thanks

Try a new battery first

as you can see in original post, reconnecting the battery will allow me to start engine with no issue and battery has no problem

I even suspect the battery if I get a flat tyre - these cars are very battery condition sensitive. Have a look here though…

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic32444.ht...+fob+stuck

OK, so here's my story on the key slot (also 2008 but diesel, not 100% sure if you have the same but still the guide could help others).

The code part is LR014330 and if replacing it MUST BE programmed on the ECU, will not work as is.

Last winter one evening key remained stuck inside the slot and would not come out, only a few mm, enough to shut down the system, but still I was unable to get it out. Some on this forum suggested to use some plastic strips on each side, to force the inside elements set the key free, but this was not working in my case.

So I was forced to use the second key to close and open the vehicle, while the one stuck was used to start the engine.
After not finding a solution on the forum, I ordered one replacement from some dismantler, for some 15 EUR or so. At this price point it was worth trying.
It came and looked ok, I proceeded with replacing the original one (quite difficult to extract it, but fun to learn new stuff), encouraged by other forums/cars stating that no programming would be needed.
And... it did not work.
Then I went to plan B: this key slot is formed of the mechanical part (which was the one with the fault in my case) and the electronic plate. I went and replaced the original electronic plate on my replacement slot and this was it, everything went perfect. We talk here about 4 wires to be unsoldered from the original slot and soldered on the replacement one (2 for the small motor controlling the key movement inside and out of the slot, and 2 wires from the coil which is used to recharge the battery (I suppose reading the key code is done by RFID), so nothing too fancy if you know at least basic usage of soldering.

then I was curious enough to check what went wrong and lead to mechanical failure on the original one. I found the same kind of plastic cogs which fail on the throttle body and EGR of this car. but to my surprise in this case it wasn't even a failure: for some unknown reason, one cog's serrations were a bit afar from their original position, which was causing the entire mechanism not to operate in its original intended way and thus blocking the key inside. In a minute I was able to put it back and I can confirm now it works again as intended (however I do not use it anymore as the other one is in the car).

So my point is probably this could be caused by having a heavy keychain could case the cog to skip one or to serrations and then it's done, key won't come out and you are forced to get a replacement one, have it replaced and reprogrammed. In my case this was completely stupid to do, since the slot was OK, all cogs and springs were good, and do not seem to fail after some more testing.

Here attached some photos of the slot and its interior:

- when you push the key in to start engine, the slot motor gets in action and by moving the cogs it gets the key in and through this system 2 lateral lamellas are pushed in locking the key in place for secure operation. When the mechanism fails, lamellas are not retracting fully and key stays locked in.



- the cogs inside the slot system, all ok.



- due to a spring, this element skipped one or two serrations and this lead to not fully retracting the lamellas, keeping the key locked.



- electronic side (in case mechanics are bad and want to keep the original electronic side - no need to reprogram in this case) and the 4 soldering points.

GOSH!!!! very long and perfect explanation, thanks for sharing, much appreciated!!

Iepulere2 wrote:

OK, so here's my story on the key slot (also 2008 but diesel, not 100% sure if you have the same but still the guide could help others).

The code part is LR014330 and if replacing it MUST BE programmed on the ECU, will not work as is.

Last winter one evening key remained stuck inside the slot and would not come out, only a few mm, enough to shut down the system, but still I was unable to get it out. Some on this forum suggested to use some plastic strips on each side, to force the inside elements set the key free, but this was not working in my case.

So I was forced to use the second key to close and open the vehicle, while the one stuck was used to start the engine.
After not finding a solution on the forum, I ordered one replacement from some dismantler, for some 15 EUR or so. At this price point it was worth trying.
It came and looked ok, I proceeded with replacing the original one (quite difficult to extract it, but fun to learn new stuff), encouraged by other forums/cars stating that no programming would be needed.
And... it did not work.
Then I went to plan B: this key slot is formed of the mechanical part (which was the one with the fault in my case) and the electronic plate. I went and replaced the original electronic plate on my replacement slot and this was it, everything went perfect. We talk here about 4 wires to be unsoldered from the original slot and soldered on the replacement one (2 for the small motor controlling the key movement inside and out of the slot, and 2 wires from the coil which is used to recharge the battery (I suppose reading the key code is done by RFID), so nothing too fancy if you know at least basic usage of soldering.

then I was curious enough to check what went wrong and lead to mechanical failure on the original one. I found the same kind of plastic cogs which fail on the throttle body and EGR of this car. but to my surprise in this case it wasn't even a failure: for some unknown reason, one cog's serrations were a bit afar from their original position, which was causing the entire mechanism not to operate in its original intended way and thus blocking the key inside. In a minute I was able to put it back and I can confirm now it works again as intended (however I do not use it anymore as the other one is in the car).

So my point is probably this could be caused by having a heavy keychain could case the cog to skip one or to serrations and then it's done, key won't come out and you are forced to get a replacement one, have it replaced and reprogrammed. In my case this was completely stupid to do, since the slot was OK, all cogs and springs were good, and do not seem to fail after some more testing.

Here attached some photos of the slot and its interior:

- when you push the key in to start engine, the slot motor gets in action and by moving the cogs it gets the key in and through this system 2 lateral lamellas are pushed in locking the key in place for secure operation. When the mechanism fails, lamellas are not retracting fully and key stays locked in.


- the cogs inside the slot system, all ok.


- due to a spring, this element skipped one or two serrations and this lead to not fully retracting the lamellas, keeping the key locked.


- electronic side (in case mechanics are bad and want to keep the original electronic side - no need to reprogram in this case) and the 4 soldering points.

This is a wonderful write up! Do you have information about how you got the original mechanism out of the dash? (I know your post here was some time ago but thought I would ask just in case

Hi,

Check out this video it shows pretty well the steps:
&t=56s

As they also mention I think, I was forced to cut a bit of a plastic trim to take it out, otherwise I could not do it.

Also in the Repair Manual you may see chapter "Start Control Unit" - page 1092 on the pdf version 11-May-2011.

Thanks for the good info. Do you happen to have any photo of the other side of the module when you were looking at replacing just the electronic board onto the new mechanism?

I guess you are lucky, I still have the spare module here. But I did not understand exactly what photo you would need!
I can dismantle it and send whatever you need (wish I had this kind of info when I was in trouble )))

Apologies for just seeing your reply. I was curious about the opposite photo from what you had showing the soldering points but I don't think it's needed anymore.

Turns out, the mechanism was jammed and the lateral lamellas mentioned in the thread were essentially stuck.

By forcefully pushing the FOB into the receiver, it was able to break the jam free and the mechanism is acting as it should now and able to properly shut off the ignition power as it should.

With your great info I was fully prepared to tear into the dash this weekend and tear apart the mechanism to see if something was broken but thankfully, it seems I don't have to (at least for now). I'm going to tell my daughter that she needs to just use the FOB without keychains from now on as well. 😉

I Want to say thanks for your willingness to help in these situations and for the great information you already provided. I'm hoping that releasing the mechanism will allow it to operate as it should and no further issues. I'll post back here with my findings after using it for some days like this.

I had the same issue with the FOB not ejecting completely from the cassette mechanism. Spray cleaned with electronics cleaner and did a light application of lubricant. That helped. But what finally did the trick was to VERY, VERY incrementally shave the two "catch" tabs on the FOB itself. Sneaking up on it that way, the FOB will (if yours is like mine) still catch, but it can be easily removed with the slightest tug. No complicated fix, no service call. How long that fix will last I can't say, but it's been a month or so and there's been no further trouble.

BTW. That key FOB mechanism was always a problem waiting to happen.