Key gets stuck in ignition - electrical grief

[IceBlue]

I have a 2007 9-5 Aero with 187K miles on her. For the most part dead reliable. A few months ago, the ignition key would not come out of the ignition after I shut the car down. At first it was intermittent and I could remove it by restarting the car, putting it back in Park, and trying to remove it again; this usually worked but eventually it got so bad that I would leave the stuck key in the ignition and use the spare key to lock the car. I took it to my mechanic who did a partial fix (he was too busy to do a deep dive that day) which allowed me to remove the key from the ignition and lock/unlock the car (all four doors) using the key itself but not the remote, which did not work any longer.
A couple of days ago I took it back to the shop to get it properly fixed. My mechanic spent 6 hours trying to get to the root of the problem without success. Even after putting it in Park and removing the key from the ignition the "door open" warning chime would keep sounding. He tried swapping out other ignition parts with no luck (he has a yard full of Saabs) and when he was done, he said the next thing he would try would be to order a new shift lever in the hopes that that would fix it. As things stand now, I can only lock and unlock the driver's door with the key; previously, I could lock/unlock all four doors using the key but no longer (so it's actually worse than it was before). I cannot open the trunk at all, either with the remote or by pushing the button in the driver's door because both are on an electrical circuit. Clearly the issue is electrical but he checked all fuses and none are blown. Has anyone had any experience with a similar issue?

[sgould]

I’m not sure that I can offer a fix, but the remote operation and the ignition are two completely different things.

The ignition key and engine starting involve the ignition barrel and the ignition switch electrics which are buried below and you have to dismantle the centre console to get to it all.

The remote operation is via the receiver aerial, which is located at the back of the centre console and can be accessed by removing the rear panel.

I can’t see that the selector lever is relevant. It’s entirely mechanical. The only electrical part is the lock that releases when you put the key in and press the brake pedal, so that you can pull it out of park.  You can bypass the electrical lock, if necessary, by pushing down the small rectangular button beside the selector with the end of the ignition key.

You can also check what keys the car thinks it has linked.  Key in ignition, turn on, and press one of the key buttons.  I can’t remember which… I can look it up when I get back to my computer at home.  But it should ideally show “2 transponders. 2 remotes” on the SID display.

[edit]

It's the boot unlock button that checks which keys the car recognises.

[IceBlue]

Thanks very much for your detailed reply. I just tried your suggestion (i.e. clicking the boot button on the remote with the ignition on) and sure enough, it shows “2 transponders. 2 remotes” on the SID display. However, the remote does not actually work; when I try to lock or unlock the doors or open the boot with the remote, it doesn't respond. The remote has a fresh battery as well. Odd, yeah?

[sgould]

If the car recognises the remotes are programmed. I would suspect that the fault lies in the radio communication. If neither key remote works, I would start looking at the receiver unit at the back of the centre console, and the circuitry from there to the central locking.

The fact that the key operated all four doors in the past, but now doesn’t suggest that your mechanic changed something unnecessarily. Can you get access to a Tech2 Saab/GM computer? That will remotely operate electrical items one at a time, as well as find error codes that are Saab specific and not detectable with a universal ELM code reader.

Does the central locking switch by the gear selector work.  If so, the locking system is probably OK and the fault is with the remote radio side.  If it does not work, the fault lies with locking system. It may be a problem in the TWICE unit under the front seat. That controls all the locking logic.  If it’s faulty, a new unit won’t work without a matching key transponder and a Tech2 session.

The door open warning could be a faulty door switch. It’s just a switch to Earth, so a broken wire could cause that.

[carrera]

I think the inability to lock is related to the ignition key

I did this job recently, you need to remove the ignition cylinder barrel from the housing and replace / fettle it.

https://www.saabtechtalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=4627.0

easiest test to perform is to have the radio on & remove the key. If the radio stays on, the barrel has not "popped up" to disconnect the ignition, so the remote locking / unlocking will not work as expected, IIRC

With the right tool,  it's about 5 minutes to remove the barrel, then whatever it takes to clean the dirt from inside, or to build up the "ramp" that the operating pin moveson (it'll make sense when in your hand)