Easy push button start
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Joined: Sep 2008
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From: On the prairie
Easy push button start
Okay first off I appologize for starting a new thread since i found a similar one but I suck at reading wiring diagrams. My problem is: the plastic link between my key tumbler and the ignition/acc switch/module screwed to the bottom of the steering column broke meaning that the key will activate the starter just fine but it wont return the switch to the off position. So what I did was unscrew the switch from the steering column and move the little lever manually without the key (now I know how to "boost" a '90's Ford). Now, instead of milling around a junkyard which i dont have time for or paying a local auto wrecker $300 for a used steering column, I'd like to rig up a generic "on/off" key and pushbutton for the starter; just like the older semi tractors. My question is: do I need to cut apart the wires of the factory switch assembly to rig up my key and button, OR- can I leave the switch in the "on" postition and wire into the factory switch so that it is excited with the generic key, and use the pushbutton to power the starter. Any help greaty appreciated...
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2008
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There are several circuits that the factory switch controls simultaneously, so if you wanna have the ACC feature it's a bit more involved than an on-off switch and a push button. I've done this a few times, my current setup involves a DPDT on-off-on switch for the RUN-OFF-ACC stuff and then another DPDT (on)-off-(on) momentary switch for the plugs and the starter. I cut the factory connector off the harness and extended the wires as needed, and it's a royal mess the first time abound, but there are two things that can help you out:
1) the ignition switch terminals are labeled right next to the contact blades, both with letters (such as BAT, ACC1, ACC2, and so on) and with numbers
2) I have posted the continuity between circuits in each of the switch positions on this board here as that subject comes up fairly regularly, do a search and you should find at least one post with said info
1) the ignition switch terminals are labeled right next to the contact blades, both with letters (such as BAT, ACC1, ACC2, and so on) and with numbers
2) I have posted the continuity between circuits in each of the switch positions on this board here as that subject comes up fairly regularly, do a search and you should find at least one post with said info
i ain't rite
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
or you can spend the $13 to buy the ignition actuator, and use the 3 hours you will waste tearing the truck apart to butcher the wiring harness, and take the column apart and fix it properly.
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The setup out trucks have is a total POS, whoever designed it they should have been slapped silly by their supervisor for even thinking of it - it's way too complicated, if they wanted the key tumbler on the column that bad they could have simply copied the setup used in the fullsize passenger cars which actually utilizes the exact same ignition switch but without that flimsy actuator piece. IMHO yanking it all out and running good-quality toggles instead is better in from reliability point of view, also probably less likely to burn the truck to the ground (unless of course the harness really gets butchered up in the process, but with due caution it can be made pretty nice). There is another option - retrofitting an ignition lock and switch from a '70s truck, they had them mounted flat on the dash much like how many new cars have them now - but I've never seen one actually do it, and I have no motivation to mess with all that when my toggles work just fine.
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