Fellow Aerostar Owners / Fans: Just wondering, is there a type of spray that can be used to keep the Aerostar ignition switch from turning easily? As a part of routine maintenance? About once a year, I spray a very small amount of CRC HD Silicone Spray into the switch. I was told the other day, that is not a good thing to do. That is why, I'm asking you. Also, when I insert the key to start my van, and remove it, I am a fanatic in doing it gently. Just how I am. I see others nearly slam the key in, turn and crank, like there is no tomorrow. It makes me cringe, in disgust. Lastly, you replying, can settle a friendly bet with an in-law. I say: USING A HEAVY KEY RING, WITH 15-20 KEYS, GAGETS, JUNK ETC. WILL RUIN AND WEAR OUT THE IGNITION SWITCH. IT'S BETTER TO HAVE A LIGHT KEYRING, WITH ONLY 3-4 KEYS YOU NEED. IN-LAW SAYS, I AM PARANOID, IT HAS NO MERIT. LARGE KEYRINGS ARE FINE. Who is correct? If I am wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. Thank You, one and all... Ed

 

Hi Ed,

I think you are doing well in order to extend the life of your ignition switch. The Aerostar switch is not a high quality product. I'm on my second switch now and it starts getting worn. I sometimes pull the key, open the door and the thing starts chiming. So I toggle the switch a bit and the chime stops. Thank god switches are not really expensive and the replacement is one the easiest tasks on the Aerostar. I'll get a new one the next time one of my "parts mules" will take a transatlantic trip which will be in spring.
I agree that heavy key rings will kill the switch. I have only the ignition key and the Aerostar's door lock key on my ring - others are extra.

 

Tom,
Is the Swiss ignition switch the same as the steering/ignition lock switch we use in the US? Mine doesn't seem to be the easy replacement you mentioned. (Or maybe I'm not as good a mechanic as you are!) Any tips are appreciated.
Dave

 

Dave:

Tom must be talking about the ignition lock cylinder alone. not the entire switch deep in the steering column. The ignition lock cylinder gets worn out very often, and replacing it is a 5-minute job, honestly.

The down side is that the key is different from the door key, so you have to carry 2 keys. For an additional 20 minutes, you can remove the pins from the old lock and put it in the new one so the old key can be used.

 

I could stand that! Mine dings all the time and seems to have 30 degrees of rotation even without the key in it.

Since the key is a double-sided key, I would think you could cut the door key on one side and the ignition key on the other side. Then, cut a notch on the head to indicate the top of the ignition side and turn it the other way for the door.

 

Well, let me tell you the story about changing the tumblers in my '93 Aero.
I changed them and kept the old key for my keychain because I knew I'd need it to unlock the doors. I painted the new key a pretty blue (just like the exterior) and thought nothing more of it. I now had two keys on the keychain, the old one and the pretty new blue key. One dark night I found out that BOTH keys will work in the new tumbler. THEY ARE IDENTICAL!! What are the odds?? (BTW, the new tumbler was purchased from an auto parts store, not the dealer.

 

Your story reminds me of the time I drove off in a 7-11 clerk's car that looked identical to my car and obviously with the same key. The most embarassing moment is bringing the car back

 

So far, I have had two incidents where I walked up to another lovely green aero at the wal mart and inserted the key. Luckily for my police record, the keys didn't work. Did you know that there are only about 60 different key codes across the whole line, facts and figures from kens almanac. I read a book on locksmithing once. GM increases this greatly by using many different key blanks to get thousands of codes.

Ken

 

Those odds sound like a million to one, and you must be the one. Either that, or that new tumbler will open with any key.

My granddad was too cheap to buy a set of 10 locks keyed alike, so he took all the little internal parts out of all of them except the two on the outside doors to the house, and then his house key opened all of them. A blank key would open anything except the two outside doors.

 

Yes, I actually meant the ignition lock cylinder and I'm sure that's the part Ed was referring to. Having two keys is not really annoying, there's worse......

the thing with the car change happened to my dad, when he opened a VW beetle that had the same color as his and was parked next to his. He wondered why he couldn't start the thing until he discovered all the trash in the car (no doubt a woman's car ).

 

I have one side of my key cut to open and start the aerostar and the other side cut for the escort. The end is notched so I can tell the difference in the dark.

 

cool idea pbrunner. (lead runner??)

 

I'm game. Is there a trick to this job or is is as simple as rekeying a doorknob?

 

Dave:

There is no trick. It's pretty much the same as rekeying your house door's lock.

 

I have two 88 model Aero's and I have one key for both, it is notched so I feel in the dark for the notch and I remember which it fits, this one key fits both door and ign on
both vans, I had it cut at the hardware store, tried at Wlmart, their machine is automated so they couldn't do, got to be manual cut on older machine. Both blanks are
h-51 I think so it works...should work on any two side key vehicles which use the same blank numbers.

While on the subject of keys, there was a recall on most fords with the same ign switch that my two 88's have, mine was done as Ford replaced the two break off
bolts with security torx screws...the problem is they broke the locks where the connector plugs into the ign switch...so it falls out partially, allowing the starter to
work but no run on release, drove me crazy tracing out the wires to the ign switch to find no power, then pulling the steering wheel and ign lock out,then the panel and there it was, connector hanging barely in the ign switch.....I am ready to put it back together with nylon ties around it,...two of them to insure I don't have to pull it apart
again...just wanted to mention this for those with 86-90 model aeros, this is all my book covers so don't know about other years.

Namaste