The other day i was in a Mc Donalds drive through and my column just dropped and i lost all steering. I pick the column back up and it drove away with no power steering as it seemed. In a parking space i checked the pump and it was fine. Gear box is fine. iI start the truck back up and it works but steering is rough. Next day i try and turn the key and it is stuck but i can still get the truck on but its hard to turn the key. I pulled the plastics off the column and i found lots of old reciepts and air freshners from the origional owner. I pull them out and the steering problem is gone. But the key problem still is around. Any ideas?

 

now im losing my voltage in the truck and its now sitting in the driveway. alternator works if im running over 2000rpms. battery connection is good

 

The ign switch is bolted to the side of the coulmn under the dash. Try unplugging the electrical connector from it and see if the battery drain stops.
Do a search here for ignition lock actuator and you should get details of how the key switch connects down to the ign switch, something may be jamming it.

 

Is it a tilt column? if so, it soundls like the same thing that happened to my Trans Am. The U-jiont typ thing in there that allows the column to move up and down, broke. It was cheaper to buy a column from a wrecking yard, than it was for the part to fix it.

 

The tilt column is fixed but now the key switch is having problems and my battery is draining when running. Glow Plugs dont put out full power and alternator puts out little to the battery.

im checking for that actuator tomorrow when i have some time