Hey everyone. Just found this place for a neighbor of mine. He has a 1984 econoline 150xl V6. Did some research but since I don't work on many fords or cars that are this old I figured I would solicit some expert advice for him. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

He lent the truck to his friend and it came back on a flatbed. Short story goes he drove to the grocery store and when he came out it wouldn't start. Apparently the key wasn't turning all the way. He thought the cylinder was bad but when a locksmith buddy of his came to change it he said it wasn't the problem. New cylinder, same problem. He said he needed a puller to remove the steering wheel so I lent him one that worked. Turns out the mechanism inside went bad i guess because he is able to start the car by pushing the cable on the topside if the column down or pressing down the mechanism inside the column. Car starts. But now it won't shift out of park, well sort of. He can jam it down just enough to catch reverse. He also mentioned his brake lights were out. He could have blown a fuse. Up to this point I have been observing and I haven't torn into it yet because I wanted to do a little research first. I'm trying to help the guy out so any help would be awesome. I was a mechanic when I was younger and am now a full time carpenter. I do swing a pretty good wrench though, but again I'd rather do some research before I jump into this thing.

 

I dont know if 84s had one, but that's what happens when the Brake Shift Interlock on some vehicles fails. Get the tail lights working and see if that resolves the issue. Also, its probably an I6, not a V6.

 

Thanks for the reply. I just got home from a long day of work and planned on looking at it in a bit. I did some research last night and thought that was a possibility. I'll check the switch on top of the pedal assembly as well as the fuse, which I believe is in cavity number 8. Looks like I may keep the truck so I'll be back to get more knowledge and to post an update. And yes it is an I6.

 

An '84 van would not have a brake pedal shift lock devise on it. That didn't come until the 90's. I have an '88 van it does not have one.

 

that sounds like a classic case a failure in the gear linkage between the lock cylinder and the rest of the system. if you extract the lock cylinder again, you'll notice the little gear on its end (sometimes it stays in the hole), well it mates to a flat gear that pushes the ignition switch linkage bar on top of the column, and also the steering wheel and shifter interlocks.
as you tear it apart, you'll see exactly what i mean

 

Ok after looking at the wiring diagram the switch I was referring to is the stop light switch. I am gonna have him buy replacement bulbs and fuses and then if I can't produce and results I will start checking for bad grounds and what not. I didn't have much time to look at it today.

The key cylinder is out of the column, as is the plastic housing that contains the gear which the protruding end of the key cylinder turns. The flat gear is also out. Whats left is the linkage bar. I am able to Start the car by pushing down inside the column to mimic the mechanical action taking place when the key is turned. Something definitely went bad in that mechanical action because I am able to start the van by going directly to the linkage bar and pushing it down. So then those two would be directly related. Would replacing the whole column work or would I have to service each piece individually.

I'm just wondering if it's not recognizing that the brakes are pushed to allow to select gears via a wiring issue or there is something stuck in the actual operation of the Gear selector shaft and maybe he would need a new column or I could service the gear selector. There are some Allen bolts on the backside of it but I haven't gotten that far yet. Just thinking ahead.

 

as was mentioned previously, there is no brake-shifter interlock on your year, but there is the key-on - shifter interlock. i suspect that the linkage issues are also locking out your shifter.
if you replace the column with an as-is unit from the JY, you have no clue what condition those gears are in, and they may be on their way out too, or they may not. so i would tend to fix the one you have so you know what you're getting

 

Sequence of assembly: Ignition cylinder, snap ring, flat bearing, brass gear.

The brass gear (D4AZ-3E717-A) is notorious for stripping! When this occurres, you can turn the key till armaggedon comes, but the rod that activates the NSS won't move.

A snap ring (DOAZ-3C610-A) retains the cylinder in place. The flat bearing (D6AZ-3E700-A) has a hole in it that allows the end of the cylinder to pass thru, then into the brass gear.

These parts were used in myriad 1970's/90's FoMoCo vehicles, not just Econolines and all are available from Ford.

DOAZ-3C610-A .. Snap Ring ~ MSRP: $1.21 / FTE Ford Dealer Parts Dept sponsor horizonpartsguy.com price: $0.86.

D6AZ-3E700-A .. Flat Bearing ~ MSRP: $3.79 / horizonpartsguy.com price: $3.19.

D4AZ-3E717-A .. Brass Gear ~ MSRP: $26.60 / horizonpartsguy.com price: $19.15.

horizonpartsguy.com aka partsguyed.com = Horizon Ford Truck Center in Seattle (Tukwila) WA

 

Thank you. So I am dealing with two separate issues. I really appreciate the assistance. Im off today so I'll focus on the key-on shifter interlock.

That's awesome. Thank you so much. I'll be printing this out and giving it to him so he can run all these parts down. Again all the help is much appreciated, especially to a newb doing a favor for a neighbor. I'll post up any results I find hopefully I can get this worked out for him.

 

I don't know if Ford uses the same system on their vans as they do their trucks, but my son's '85 F150 developed a similar problem. It turned out that a piece of metal that connects to the rod on the top of the steering column broke. We weren't able to see that that was the problem until we took the steering wheel and turn signal mechanism off. There was a square looking rod with gears on it that moved inside a tube. That square looking bar is what was connected to the rod and it broke right at that connection. Maybe that is what's happened with your van. If memory serves me right, the metal this square rod was made out of was die cast metal. In other words-JUNK metal.