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I've got Chevy Cobalt 2007 with key stuck in ignition and dead battery. The battery is located in the trunk.

The trunk could be opened either using the button (oh no, cannot do that because the battery is dead) or using the key (oh no, cannot do that because the only key is stuck in ignition).

Could you suggest how to remove the key from the ignition w/out electrical power, or how to charge the battery w/out accessing the trunk?

Thanks.

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5 Answers 5

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You need to jump start your car. Pop the hood. You'll see something like this:

enter image description here

Inside the green circle is the positive jump point. Connect the red jumper cable clamp there first. Find an unpainted ground spot and attach your negative clamp there. Once connected to the donor car, you'll have power to do what you need ... either start the car, or pop the trunk to get to the battery.

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  • Any place you can find a good ground point from. If the casing of the alternator is available, that would be a good point (keep the cables out of the way of fan belt). As long as you get a good ground, you could even use the bolt sticking up out of the shock tower.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Jan 13, 2016 at 22:16
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If you look up from underneath the steering column there is a hole where you can push a button or a tab to release the key with a srewdriver.

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    Pop off the little door under the streering wheel then stick your finger in to the left and push the white button which releases the key.
    – Autumn A Sutherland
    Commented Nov 11, 2017 at 4:52
  • This worked for my 2007 Chevy Cobalt.
    – Judah Himango
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 20:52
  • Yep. This worked for me. Had to feel around for a minute before finding it. A small lever/button you press, then the key can come out.
    – Judah Himango
    Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 20:52
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I had the same problem. This is the dumbest "circular logic" problem an engineer can make. I had to "reverse birth" myself by jamming my arm between the back seats to release the passenger rear seat lever. My arm was just long enough to push the lever (normally pulled from the rear of the car), but when I pushed the lever, my body was pushing on the seat. When I moved my body away from the seat, my arm was too short. 20 minutes of attempts, and even trying to use my radio antenna to "hook" the Jimmy Hoffa trunk release (with no success), and I finally bruised my arm/shoulder/neck enough to release the seat, and end this nightmare. And it was raining.

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    Sounds like you were living up to your username... :)
    – anonymous2
    Commented Sep 14, 2016 at 18:22
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My 07 cobalt did this to me because alert system no longer notifies me if my actual lights, turn signal, seat belt are on but crazy thing is it's when my front speakers aren't working but when they do all of my alerts work too. Turns out I left my lights on all day (8 hr), after work got to my car and tried to start it my battery was dead and then a light in the dash appeared it was a car with a lock going through it, looked it up the symbol meant anti theft was on, had to go under the steering wheel and release my key before we could even jump start the car.

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  • But how did you "release the key"? The main question is "how to remove the key".
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 20:41
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I have a portable jump starter that I made the mistake of keeping in the trunk. Dead battery, key locked in the ignition. I read the comments. Yes you can open the little square tab under the steering column and feel around with your finger for a tab to push, near where the key is and you can turn the key back and pull it out.

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