Found out problem with ignition, and fixed it

[Jr's Sho]

I found out what my problem with the ignition is. The rod inside that is moved by the igniton cylinder supposely has a plastic piece or whatever that is used to pull the ignition switch off whenever the key is turned from Run backward toward Off. After watching the piece directly above the ignition switch peg, that is moved by the rod, only move to start but not backward, it seems that the only way of finding out is to tear the steering column apart. In order to remove the steering wheel, what has to come off? Both lower and upper shrouds are off but does the air bag have to be disconnected,I need whatever help anyone can offer.

<small>[ January 23, 2003, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: Jr's Sho ]</small>

 

[luigisho]

Yes the airbag needs to come off to get the steering wheel off. Be very careful with this. The Haynes manual has a decent write up for this so start with that.
The power must be disconnected before you touch anything involving the airbag system. Make sure you mark the wires where they plug in for the airbag at the steering wheel. Mark the steering wheel at the column splines to realign the wheel exactly where you took it off too.
You may need to get a puller to get the wheel off. You can do the loan a tool from AutoZone. Before you remove the steering wheel be VERY careful- there is a crash sensor between the steering wheel and the column. I screwed this up when I removed a wheel from a mid '90s Ranger. The sensor looks like a roundish plastic piece but inside is a wound spool of plastic coated copper wire and if it pops off and unwinds it's shot (replace from FPN ~$75-85). You have to put something in it to keep the tension on the spool.
If the Haynes is incomplete you can try to get the column diagram from a Ford parts counter. If you need to replace the part you could ask Torrie to email you the parts counter diagram plus he'll get you the piece cheaper too.

 

[Jeff'sSHO]

I had that same problem last summer. car started but them wouldn't turn off I pulled the plastic shroud off and just turned the car on and off by hand for a while until the part came in. I was going to try to replace it my self but I ended up just having ford do it, looked like quite a job, I paid $200

 

[Jr's Sho]

Yeah today I replaced it. I know a guy at Ford who works in parts and he got me the part for like $8 and some diagrams of the column, though it didn't help much. The part is called an actuator, it goes from the ignition cylinder to another plastic piece that pushes the ignition switch on and off. The problem was at the end of the actuator I replaced there is a small, round piece of metal that hooks into the other piece that works with the switch, and it broke off, therefore, it would still push the piece forward but because the metal piece of round bar was missing, it didn't hook and pull the switch back and therefore did not turn the car off. A guy at work helped me today, and boy was it a job. There's a bearing cup that came apart and we lost one of the ball bearings and I think I can hear it rubbing when turning the wheel. Also, the steering wheel has a little play in it so I'll take the air bag back off tomorrow to see if I didn't tighten it all the way. I lost the small metal pins to my ignition cylinder, it was a long few weeks since it broke! But finally, it's fixed. Woohoo...