[Jayfarmlaw]

OK, My Father in laws 97 F-250 is starting to have ignition problems....as in the ket wont turn. Sometime wiggling the steering wheel or the shifter helps but not always.

Do you have to pull the wheel to get the lock cylinder out or is that the problem anyway. This truck has 150 k on it an alot of those miles are in the pasture.

Thanks in advance for the response.

Jay

 

[DBogo]

mine does this every so often when you shut it off make sure to turn it all the way to off or else it will be hard to turn if it is like that right now turn it back and try again

 

[Partsman]

Yeah, its probably the lock cyl worn. No you don't have to take the wheel off. Turn it to the run position and look underneath and theres a hole. Take something like a casing nail and poke up into the hole while jiggiling the cyl and it slides out. Don't forget to save the old key for the doors.

 

[94_turbo]

or take the old key to a locksmith and have him repin the new lock--you may have some of the column parts wearing also---

 

[Patrick Feeley]

In the archives (two or three back), there's a post by yours truly (with some improvements compliments of Renegade) on how to get a new lock cylinder to use the old key. If I get a chance, I'll search for it. New cylinder was like $16 at AutoZone. Cheers!

 

[cmichalik]

I re-keyed my ignition cylinder using the article that Patric is talking about. It's a lot easier than it sounds. One thing I learned after I was finished is that there are two ignition cylinders. One for an XL truck & one for an XLT truck. The ONLY differance is that the XLT cylinder has a chrome bezel and the xl cylinder has a black bezel. The black on is about $5 cheaper. Had I known this up front I could have saved a little cash.

One other thing I found out. The key that came w/ the new cylinder is only cut on the front end b/c the front of the key is the ignition and the back of the key is the door lock. I noticed that on mine, the new key wasn't cut as deep as my old key. So I took it to the hardware store down the street and had them cut my new key to match my old one. They didn't even charge me since I brought in my own key. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Hope all that made sence to everyone.

 

[JOAT]

From what I was told when ordering mine, the ignition and door part of the key shared one position (in the center). I think there were six different ignition/key sets available depending on which depth that position was cut to. The dealer should be able to get the right one if you take the old one in with you. The rest then can be cut to match.