Keychain Madness
Do you remember your first set of keys? Maybe they were house keys, maybe they were car keys, but no matter what they opened, key ownership was a sacred rite of passage as a kid. Getting handed those keys automatically made you more grown-up, so obviously keys were very important. If you were an overly elaborate teenager like me, your key chain looked like a glittery ball of magic and it weighed about 18lbs. Or maybe you were more like my minimalist husband in the keyring department. His sensible metal keyring, with 3 keys hanging from it, makes for a lackluster key display but is far easier for transporting keys in pockets. And I hate the admit it, but he is far more correct in his keyring fashion than I am. I would like to point out, this is the ONLY time he will ever be more fashionable than me.
You see, no one ever sat me aside and said, “Lauralee, having giant metal statutes of the Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings hanging from your keys is going to break your ignition switch one day.” But that is surely what happened to my awesome Camry back in the day, that I affectionately called The Blue Racer. I forgot about this moment in my life, until recently when I overheard my service specialists tell a younger driver she needed to lighten up her keyring. I was immediately flashed back to the moment my car wouldn’t turn on, and my dad told me it was because of all the “crap on my keys”.
So, in case no one told you, I’d like to lay it out for you. From one mom to another, from one car driver to another, or just one human to another, I’m here to tell you something no one told me. Heavy keychains add excessive weight onto the tumbler, located in the ignition switch, which is not a good thing over time. When you are cruising over bumpy roads, gravel, and hills at full speed the added weight wears the ignition switch out. This can cause the key to not go into the ignition properly, be exited from the ignition properly, or start the car each time. And eventually, the ignition switch will fail completely. It’s a costly repair that can be avoided simply by being boring in the keychain department. I want to keep you from spending unnecessary money, so lighten up your keyring.
You may be wondering how much weight is too much for a keyring. That is an excellent question, and I was wondering as well, so here is some data I found interesting. It seems that 4+ keys on a keyring is starting to be considered a lot and could be problematic for most ignitions. Heavy metal keyrings that dangle are not recommended. In fact, no dangling keychains seemed to be loved by any reference I went to, so I’d avoid excessively long keyrings. And any keyring 2 lbs. or more, is doing more damage than good to your car.
I’m not here to stop your keychain dreams, but I am hoping to make you a more responsible driver. This is not to say if you carry a single key around your ignition switch will never break. It is a wearable item, but if protected it can work a long time perfectly. This is just a little public service announcement to make you proactive in car care. Go look at your keyring; is that Hard Rock Café from 1998’s Panama City spring break trip still needed in your life? Do you really need every key to every door in your home there? Could you maybe swap to a quick release or a carabiner type keyring if you do need multiple keys? These are all little questions you can ask yourself to best lighten to load and keep you moving down the road. And if you simply can’t part with your 210 colorful beaded keyrings, we are happy to help you with your ignition issues at Schmidt Auto Care. We will try to educate you a bit further on that keyring, but we won’t judge it. In fact, we love seeing all your keyrings and hearing your heartfelt stories on where they all came from. So, keep traveling and keep bring us stories on your adventures. Let’s just do it one keychain at a time.
Written by Auto Goddess & VP of Operations,
Lauralee D Schmidt
Keychain Madness
Do you remember your first set of keys? Maybe they were house keys, maybe they were car keys, but no matter what they opened, key ownership was a sacred rite of passage as a kid. Getting handed those keys automatically made you more grown-up, so obviously keys were very important. If you were an overly elaborate teenager like me, your key chain looked like a glittery ball of magic and it weighed about 18lbs. Or maybe you were more like my minimalist husband in the keyring department. His sensible metal keyring, with 3 keys hanging from it, makes for a lackluster key display but is far easier for transporting keys in pockets. And I hate the admit it, but he is far more correct in his keyring fashion than I am. I would like to point out, this is the ONLY time he will ever be more fashionable than me.
You see, no one ever sat me aside and said, “Lauralee, having giant metal statutes of the Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings hanging from your keys is going to break your ignition switch one day.” But that is surely what happened to my awesome Camry back in the day, that I affectionately called The Blue Racer. I forgot about this moment in my life, until recently when I overheard my service specialists tell a younger driver she needed to lighten up her keyring. I was immediately flashed back to the moment my car wouldn’t turn on, and my dad told me it was because of all the “crap on my keys”.
So, in case no one told you, I’d like to lay it out for you. From one mom to another, from one car driver to another, or just one human to another, I’m here to tell you something no one told me. Heavy keychains add excessive weight onto the tumbler, located in the ignition switch, which is not a good thing over time. When you are cruising over bumpy roads, gravel, and hills at full speed the added weight wears the ignition switch out. This can cause the key to not go into the ignition properly, be exited from the ignition properly, or start the car each time. And eventually, the ignition switch will fail completely. It’s a costly repair that can be avoided simply by being boring in the keychain department. I want to keep you from spending unnecessary money, so lighten up your keyring.
You may be wondering how much weight is too much for a keyring. That is an excellent question, and I was wondering as well, so here is some data I found interesting. It seems that 4+ keys on a keyring is starting to be considered a lot and could be problematic for most ignitions. Heavy metal keyrings that dangle are not recommended. In fact, no dangling keychains seemed to be loved by any reference I went to, so I’d avoid excessively long keyrings. And any keyring 2 lbs. or more, is doing more damage than good to your car.
I’m not here to stop your keychain dreams, but I am hoping to make you a more responsible driver. This is not to say if you carry a single key around your ignition switch will never break. It is a wearable item, but if protected it can work a long time perfectly. This is just a little public service announcement to make you proactive in car care. Go look at your keyring; is that Hard Rock Café from 1998’s Panama City spring break trip still needed in your life? Do you really need every key to every door in your home there? Could you maybe swap to a quick release or a carabiner type keyring if you do need multiple keys? These are all little questions you can ask yourself to best lighten to load and keep you moving down the road. And if you simply can’t part with your 210 colorful beaded keyrings, we are happy to help you with your ignition issues at Schmidt Auto Care. We will try to educate you a bit further on that keyring, but we won’t judge it. In fact, we love seeing all your keyrings and hearing your heartfelt stories on where they all came from. So, keep traveling and keep bring us stories on your adventures. Let’s just do it one keychain at a time.
Written by Auto Goddess & VP of Operations,
Lauralee D Schmidt
