- Joined
- Sep 5, 2022
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 52
- Location
- Cleveland, Ohio
- What engine do you have?
- V6 engine
- What year is your Sport Trac?
- 2002
- What Generation is your Sport Trac?
- 1st Gen Owner
Hello all!
2002 ST, 320k miles, 4x4, no codes. The other day I was in a hurry moving the vehicle in the driveway, and I kinda slammed the gear selector into park and quickly shut off the key....but the tumbler would not rotate to the full "off" position allowing me to actually remove the key. I rolled the key/tumbler forward and the truck started, so I tried shutting it off and the tumbler would still not fully roll off allowing me to remove the key again. I tried the various positions of the gear selector, tilt wheel position, turning the wheel while trying to roll ignition fully off, etc. etc. etc but nothing worked. Since we were heading out of town I just took the key off the keyring and left it in the ignition....
When I got back to it, I figured the tumbler was bad as for the last 6 months or so, I would have to occasionally roll the ignition tumbler against the spring loaded start position a few times to get it to crank the starter (don't think clean the contacts on starter, think ignition switch issue). As such, I ordered and got another tumbler, just tried it, and the same thing happens....meaning I cannot get the new ignition tumbler to roll to the full "off" position to allow me to remove the key. So....I'm thinking there must be failure in some type of linkage somewhere? Its a "mechanical" like stop when trying to roll the ignition to an off position, like something internal to the ignition design is failing/blocking me from fully shutting off the tumbler. BTW, once removed, the tumbler will freely rotate and allow me to remove the key.
I dropped the panels beneath the steering column and removed the starter switch hoping that it was my mechanical block, and even after removing the starter switch which then lets the tumbler freely move in any direction....the tumbler will still not roll backwards far enough to let me remove the key. I also used a probing tool to move the plastic slide underneath the column (where the starter switch pin fits into), and it moves freely frontwards and backwards as well, but seemingly not backwards enough (toward the steering column) that would allow key removal.
I still believe there is some kind of mechanical block/break within the housing where the tumbler fits into, but I just don't have the knowledge of its internal workings to know where to go next. So....if anyone has any intel of the mechanics that go from where the tumbler end fits into the ignition socket and rotates "something" to engage some relay, please let me know. I believe I will need to tear something more apart, but don't know where to start.....
I've read though old posts...and haven't found this issue yet.
Thanks, RB
2002 ST, 320k miles, 4x4, no codes. The other day I was in a hurry moving the vehicle in the driveway, and I kinda slammed the gear selector into park and quickly shut off the key....but the tumbler would not rotate to the full "off" position allowing me to actually remove the key. I rolled the key/tumbler forward and the truck started, so I tried shutting it off and the tumbler would still not fully roll off allowing me to remove the key again. I tried the various positions of the gear selector, tilt wheel position, turning the wheel while trying to roll ignition fully off, etc. etc. etc but nothing worked. Since we were heading out of town I just took the key off the keyring and left it in the ignition....
When I got back to it, I figured the tumbler was bad as for the last 6 months or so, I would have to occasionally roll the ignition tumbler against the spring loaded start position a few times to get it to crank the starter (don't think clean the contacts on starter, think ignition switch issue). As such, I ordered and got another tumbler, just tried it, and the same thing happens....meaning I cannot get the new ignition tumbler to roll to the full "off" position to allow me to remove the key. So....I'm thinking there must be failure in some type of linkage somewhere? Its a "mechanical" like stop when trying to roll the ignition to an off position, like something internal to the ignition design is failing/blocking me from fully shutting off the tumbler. BTW, once removed, the tumbler will freely rotate and allow me to remove the key.
I dropped the panels beneath the steering column and removed the starter switch hoping that it was my mechanical block, and even after removing the starter switch which then lets the tumbler freely move in any direction....the tumbler will still not roll backwards far enough to let me remove the key. I also used a probing tool to move the plastic slide underneath the column (where the starter switch pin fits into), and it moves freely frontwards and backwards as well, but seemingly not backwards enough (toward the steering column) that would allow key removal.
I still believe there is some kind of mechanical block/break within the housing where the tumbler fits into, but I just don't have the knowledge of its internal workings to know where to go next. So....if anyone has any intel of the mechanics that go from where the tumbler end fits into the ignition socket and rotates "something" to engage some relay, please let me know. I believe I will need to tear something more apart, but don't know where to start.....
I've read though old posts...and haven't found this issue yet.
Thanks, RB
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