BA/BF Ignition Barrel Failure and Repair

[TazzI]

Well... had an interesting surprise today... not exactly the best start of the day!

Turned the key in the ignition.. and nothing.. no lights.. no ignition.. no starting.. zilch!

So after a bit of googling, looks like its a really common issue!

Ford quoted $2000 to replace the whole column.... so that option was an instant no no!

Pulled the whole steering column out and found the back plate of the ignition has been pushed out. Will post up some pics tomorrow to show the issue, and the reaaaaaly simply fix!

Hopefully this will save some heart ache for others

[GoFastBits]

Yeah thats a really common issue, commonly the key stops "springing" back from start before the arse falls off the barrel.

Interested in your easy fix though

Most people just put a second hand BF column in, cheap as chips these days, or they drill out a hole for a grub screw in the side of the rear of the barrel, piece it back together and put a grub in it to hold the rear section, then punch the rear tabs back over as much as they can but this only works aslong as non of the bits that fall out go missing

Seen some repair kits with replacement internals (that fall out plus the contacts), instructions to drill and add screws and a half moon captive rear plate that is held by the screws and physically stops the switch from popping out

My pre-emptive prevention was to simply eliminate the need to turn to start with the FPV start button Hopefully lowering total wear as it never gets stressed.

[TazzI]

Yeah, ended up pulling the whole column out.. which isnt tooooo bad once you have done it once and see how everything disconnects.

Refitted the internals and ball bearings.. (annoying little buggers) and then recrimped the metal tabs over the plastic base.

It works fine but I wanted a more permanent solution to ensure that it never happens again.. and doesnt happen to the next owner when this old girl eventually gets moved along.

The plastic piece now has more archs dremmelled out of it and the metal tabs fold over alot cleaner now. Theres no way its going to be falling out!


For such an easy fix.. its pretty bad to be hearing these horror stories of some people caving to Ford and forking out the $2000 for a new ignition barrel/column.

[TazzI]

So heres the barrel all fallen apart!
If you look around edge of the barrel, you can see some little edges that are slightly bent, its those edges that have slowly over time pushed outwards causing the plastic back plate to fall out!.




Once put back together, it should look like below. This time the tabs are pushed over alot, and more little grooves have been dremelled out so more tabs can be pushed over. Theres no way this is every going to fail again!




Once the steering wheel was off, it was pretty straight foward to get everything else apart, few clips and screws and everything comes apart until you reach the steering column.
Once stripped to that point, the ignition column literally just pulls off.
There are a couple stupid little white clips at the end of the ignition column.. which literally do nothing!. I tried to lever them off very lightly.. but they just snap with any small amounts of pressure. Really they have no purpose!.

I do hope this doesnt happen to anyone, is extremely nerve racking knowing that Ford wants to charge $2000 for a new one!

[Tjr]

Thanks for the pictures.. Tazzi..
Same issue with me..
Since 2 bearings came off & found them.
where is the correct location for bearings?
--^^

[TazzI]

Thanks for the pictures.. Tazzi..
Same issue with me..
Since 2 bearings came off & found them.
where is the correct location for bearings?
--^^

I think I popped them onto the two little spots found on the center piece (In that plastic tub, to the right). Put some of the grease on there, then pushed the bearings onto it to hold them in place.. the put back into the barrel in the order it all came out.

Its been a while since I did it so I dont exactly recall, but basically it only works and goes in one way so you can't go wrong!

The one thing I was told, was to not turn the column with no key in the ignition. I permanently left the key in it while repairing.

[Tjr]

Thanks for the reply Tazzi..
Fixed by mobile auto locksmith in Sydney. ($200)