Over the weekend I had to take my daughter's car in for service. Since she was home from college for the weekend and was far to busy to take her car to the shop it was up to dear old dad to do the deed.

When I asked Anna for her keys she pulled out something that resembled a fishing lure for really large fish. It had keys, several different keychain fobs, a holder for her student ID and drivers license, and there may have been a small spiral sliced ham hanging from the key as well.

When I arrived at the service counter I handed over the keys and the technician instantly told me a keychain like this was not a good thing for the car's ignition switch.She, the technician, told me that the excessive weight of all the extra baggage on the key could start to affect the ignition switch and how it operates.

I did some online verification and the tech was right on the money. At least for cars that still use an actual key to crank the vehicle. There doesn't seem to be a particular threshold for the number of keys you put on a single ring. Chances are the ring won't hold enough to damage the switch.

However, if you add a couple of novelty keychains and some decorative accessories and then add more keys to those devices, that's where you could find yourself in trouble. Granted, it's not overnight trouble but over time that extra force pulling on the key as it is inserted in the ignition switch will eventually affect the way the switch functions.

 

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