I'm trying to get a few little things sorted out before spring and tonight's deep thought is related to the ignition switch.

I have a tilt column and for the key to stay in accessory position the steering wheel must be locked and the tilt can not be in the upper most position.

In the other direction, turning the key to start the car will not always engage the starter. Usually I just need to turn the key back and forth or sometimes I just need to turn the key just a bit more than I think I should need to.

I'm hoping that both of these are solved by adjusting the position of the ignition switch - toward the firewall I believe?

If for some reason those would require adjustments in the opposite direction then I'm thinking I'm probably in a happy medium location and will live with it.

I've read 12 years of posts and printed the "papers" but I'm just wondering has a definitive answer on whether both issues can be solved with one adjustment.

 

There are several variables that can play into this. I'd start with the easiest, the switch adjustment and if you printed out papers I'm sure you found Jim's article on how to do this, if not message me and I'll dig it up for you.

However, slop in the actual housing where the cylinder is can cause issues as well as a deteriorated rack assembly. The rack is what drives the rod that controls the ignition switch and if I had to guess this would probably be the culprit of your issue. The rack has a plastic gear that drives a link that the ignition switch control rod hooks too.... Hopefully the pictures below will give you a better idea.

Another thing that could cause this issue is the upper collar being torn on the mast jacket so that question would be easy to answer by asking you if the column has play from side to side and up and down.... If so then a major repair would need to be done.

Willcox

 

One other thing to check related to the switch is - if the switch itself is still functioning as intended. The C3 ignition switch is made up of two major assemblies with some internal moving parts sandwiched in between. The switch assemblies are held together by a couple of clamps on the ends of the switch which literally clamp it together.

Over time the clamps can loosen allowing the two assemblies to partially separate, which can inhibit the functionality. Also over time, the contacts inside can get corroded and there is some metal transfer (such as occurs with a set of points) which can inhibit it's functionality. I have had both happen in the past and only discovered the problem after removing the switch (to replace it with a new one). Once I saw this, I fully separated the two assemblies (just to see how it worked) and discovered some minor corrosion. I cleaned the contacts and reassembled the switch ensuring it was fully clamped together, and it functioned perfectly.

Older style ignition switch...

I've noticed that some of the newer ignition switches use a clamp arrangement that locks the two switch assemblies together making it almost impossible for them to separate.

Newer style ignition switch...

Good luck and I hope this saves you some time and aggravation...

Incidentally, Ford used a similar style of column mounted ignition switch as this on some of their 80's and 90's vehicles. Apparently, as the switch would separate, arcing would occur internally and may have resulted in fires. This resulted in an NHTSA mandated recall to replace the switches.

GUSTO

 

Thank you both for the repIies. I was under the impression that the column had been rebuilt when I had purchased it 6 years ago but I don't remember to what extent.

So today I totally disconnected and dropped the column and started by just adjusting the switch so that the key would stay in accessory in all positions. The car started fine but Interestingly enough, there was no power in accessory mode. I found that out after I had the column and dash all back together.

Then I said no way I'm doing that again so I learned that you are able to adjust the switch with the column in place fairly easily if you get the capacitor that uses the rear switch screw out of the way.

So with the key in accessory I slid the switch toward me just enough that I could feel the key want to pop out of accessory. Tightened up the front switch screw and the radio worked in accessory, the key stays in accessory in all tilt positions (but the wheel needs to be locked) and the switch engaged the starter with room to spare, or so it felt.

Tomorrow I'll just go out and start it about 10 times to see if it wasn't just luck and if that is successful I'm calling it a win.

 

Since all I have is free time I decided to take out the column and check out the ignition switch.

First thing I noticed is that is the switch is obviously off of my original standard column and it was transplanted onto the tilt column.

Is there a functional difference? They appear pretty different structurally.

But then I decided to open up the switch and see what it looked like.

There were 5 of these brass contacts sitting on top of all those springs but the one I pictured shows what 48 years and 73000 miles of turning a key will do.

Don't know if this was the start position contact but looks like it could have been an issue in making contact.