Alright fellas, here's the situation:

The ignition switch isn't working. 1995 F-150, no tilt or cruise. The truck will turn on and start, but won't shut off with the key. I have to pull the alternator wire and battery cable to shut it off. I am fed up with this situation, and I don't want to have to deal with the factory Ford switch ever again.

I want to set up a switch panel on the dash with a push-button starter.

Bear with me, because this might sound ghetto at first, but you'll realize the brilliance of it when you realize that this is my beater truck. I want the push-button for the starter to be the horn button. I will wire it so that the left horn button activates the starter, but the right horn button activates the horn like normal. If this works, it will be more theft-proof than any keyed entry system that I've ever seen. Nobody would think to hit the horn if they were trying to steal it, and usually they don't have time to trace wires, especially when there's a lock cylinder in there that looks like it works.

My question:

According to the continuity test procedure, there must be continuity between the following circuits in the key positions:

ACC: A-1 through B-1

my proposal: A switch connecting A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4 to B-1 on the other side of the switch

RUN: A-1 and B-1, A-2 and B-2, A-3 and B-3, A-4 and B-4, I1 and B-5

my proposal: A switch grouping the A's and I1 on one side, and all the B's on the other side

Start: I1 and B-5, I-2 and B-1, STA and B-4, P-1 and GRD, P-2 and GRD.

my proposal: wire STA and I-2 to the left horn switch, and B-4 and B-1 to the other side of the left horn switch.

Will this grouping of the battery (B's) to the same switch have any adverse impact? I have a total of 2 switches on the dash, one to engage the ACC circuit, and the other to engage the RUN circuit. The horn is a temporary switch engaging the START circuit.

This project seems much easier than replacing that little rod thing. I would really appreciate if any of y'all have grouped circuits together and can help out here!

 

Take the switch off the bottom of the column, and actuate the pin to it's various positions, and make sure it fully works. If that's the case, just get yourself a junkyard column, swap the ignition locks, and put your turn signal staulk and ignition switch on the new column, and call it a day. This is a one hour job. I replaced my F-series column with a 96 Town Car column, because I wanted tilt, but regardless of the reason it's an easy swap. Berg joint at the floor on the column shaft needs to be opened, and the four bolts under the column holding it to the column support bracket.

The wires inside the steering column for the horn, and cruise buttons if you have them, are 24 ga wires - not robust enough to actuate the starter relay without a serious risk of melting and/or fire. The starter relay (1.75A) draws a ton more current than the horn relay (500ma).

 

Finding a junkyard column is an extremely difficult option for me. I think I'll just leave the switch exposed and play with it that way. I'm very glad you warned me about the horn switch.

Couldn't I just disconnect the wires from the horn switch and run the starter relay through that switch? This project is getting worse by the hour.

Thanks very much for your help though!

 

The horn buttons on the steering wheel have too small wires to attach to the starter relay.

You could in theory have them drive a small relay, like the horn relay, and have the new relay drive the starter relay. But you're adding complexity.

Since junkyards don't work for you, another solution is ebay, car-parts.com, and so on.

Truck columns: (direct bolt-in/wire up)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-...spagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/93-f-...spagenameZWDVW

Car columns: (direct bolt-in/requires swapping signal staulk and ignition switch at base of column):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...spagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-Me...spagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCU...spagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-98...55690527QQrdZ1

And so on. Note that if your truck has an air bag, you need to replace it with an air-bag column. Putting in a non-airbag column will result in the air bag light staying lit all the time.

 

I appreciate all those links to the columns. I'm ditching the horn idea for good now, but I still don't want to replace the entire column. If I can just pick up a heavy-duty switch from Radio Shack, can I use that to engage the starter? What I'm getting at is that I need a solution that is #1 possible and quick, and #2 safe. I don't care how bad it looks right now, I really just want to drive my truck. My GMC Suburban uses about twice the fuel and twice the parking spaces as this F-150.

I might fix it back to stock one day, but this is my daily driver, and I need it to work right away. I really appreciate your help on this. I really hope this isn't as bad as it seems once I start tearing it down.