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I recently bought an ‘89 F-150 with the 302, 4x4 manual tilt steering
The previous owner had the ignition jerry-rigged under the dash with a homemade rod that you manually pushed forward and pulled back to simulate the key movements.
I dug in today and the ignition actuator was broken (a common failure point I’ve read). The problem though is that the rod that runs along the steering column to the ignition switch is missing. O’Reilly Auto Parts couldn’t find that rod. I can’t find much about it online. There’s a rod and actuator together for sale on eBay but at $125 that’s a little steep, as I was able to get the actuator at O’Reilly for only $16. I will probably try a local Ford dealer but was curious if anyone had any ideas. That rod I can’t even find on Ford diagrams.
True story
It is a dealer item, and no aftermarket parts store will have a listing
Junkyard is your best bet (for all the other parts you need too)
You will need to "clock" the new actuator to the gear teeth in the key and cylinder
Might just as well learn about that mechanism while at the junkyard looking at a no good truck
That way, when you get back to yours, you'll know how it all goes together
It isn't easy
Here is the correct orientation of the slotted gear that goes into the barrel that the ignition tumbler rides in. Note the rack teeth you slot the last
tooth in the gear into. This will ensure then you move the rack forward (which you have to do) to get the ignition tumbler to fit in correctly.
Hope this helps. this was a trial an error exercise for me when I did this job to get the ACC position to work for me.
If you haven’t already found and read it, ignition actuator replacement procedure is in the “sticky” 1987 to 1996 Tech info thread.
I replaced the actuator in the ‘89 several years ago and don’t recall seeing that rod listed anywhere. I doubt the dealer would have or be able to get it but you never know. I would go to a junkyard first even if it was available from the dealer because it would be much cheaper.
Thank you for this. I was finally able to get some time to do this and this image helped get me started and made it easy. Thanks!
For anyone that comes across this topic, I ended up finding the long actuator rod on eBay.
Originally Posted by mackendw
Here is the correct orientation of the slotted gear that goes into the barrel that the ignition tumbler rides in. Note the rack teeth you slot the last
tooth in the gear into. This will ensure then you move the rack forward (which you have to do) to get the ignition tumbler to fit in correctly.
Hope this helps. this was a trial an error exercise for me when I did this job to get the ACC position to work for me.
