Why a heavy keychain can damage your ignition
There are a few guarantees in life – work, taxes, and forgetting where you put your car keys. Almost every car owner will experience losing their car keys and the simple solution is, add more keys and keychains so it’s more difficult to lose. While this does make sense to have all your keys in one place, it can be detrimental to your vehicle, especially the ignition.
Less is best
The only way to avoid the damage to your ignition is to have a newer model car, fitted with a remote car starter instead of a manual ignition. But if you aren’t fortunate enough then less is best, because over time the weight of the extra keys will wear down the grooves in the key and ignition and you will eventually struggle to remove or turn the key in the ignition. If you are lucky, the ignition barrel can be replaced or repaired.
What the experts say
Experts recommend that you carry no more than 4 keys or key chains on your keys, depending on the weight. The additional weight causes pressure on the key grooves against the internal ignition of the car. This pressure can slowly wear down the key and ignition until it becomes unusable.
“With all the weight of the key, as you’re driving, the force of the bunch of keys can result in one of two things which happen. It wears out to the point where the key doesn’t any longer work in the barrel, or the cam is misaligned, and it doesn’t want to turn, preventing the latch from operating properly, which is required for unlocking the steering lock.” Says Gaibe.
If you have too many things on your car keys, make sure to remove most of the weight or have a separate set of keys with all the additional weight that won’t directly hang on the ignition while driving. This could add many years of value to your car, as you won’t have to worry about replacing the expensive ignition system.
Why a heavy keychain can damage your ignition
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