on column ignition woes

[crackajacka]

ok i turn my key like im gona start my truck but it just moves nothing comes on. the steering wheel unlocks but thats it. i replaced the key lock thinking it was that but it isnt. what's causing this and how do i fix it.

[Prerunner1982]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=104828

sounds like the ignition switch

[swervin ervin]

I agree, sounds like the ignition switch.

Must be the month for bad ignition switches or something.

[79BIG10]

also did you reconnect the wires at the base of the column? This is the one where it will only let you start in either park or neutral.

[crackajacka]

the rod doesnt move unless i move it by hand. guess i kinda removed the plastic cover the wrong way i just grabbed n pulled lol. but how much would it cost me to fix it if its a spring or something. its a tilt column, the key lock has no resitance but locks n does its job so its something not pushing the rod down thanks god my wife doesnt goto school anymore so im not in as much as a hurry to get this done just be driving her car that gets 25mpg or so lol

[ChevyTech]

Sounds like the exact same problem zzChevy was having in a previous post.
In all my years of Chevrolet dealer experience, I have never seen this problem.
My Dealer would charge a minimum of two hours labor, for that type of tilt column repair.
There is an aluminum part that the metal rod is attached to at the top end of the rod. My guess is that part is breaking or the part that I refered in the zzChevy post. It's all a guess until you take it apart.

[zzChevy]

I found the bad part, its the aluminum looking piece that the Lock cylinder turns in the column. I was able to get it out even though it was broken further down into the column.

[79BIG10]

Glad to hear you able to get it. You might be able to get one out of a junkyard for next to nothing.

[zzChevy]

Originally Posted by 79BIG10

Glad to hear you able to get it. You might be able to get one out of a junkyard for next to nothing.

Thanks 79BIG10.

cracka. Sounds like you are expeiancing the exact thing I was....am. I take alook at this first. Just requires you to remove the steering wheel, lock cylinder, and turn signal cam. Pretty straight forward. Good luck.

[1972C10]

Yeah i had that peice of crap alum peice break on me you think they would make it out of something good like steel but noo they make it out of pot metal.

Mine got to where i had to take it off the top tilt position then it would start. finally broke

[piecesparts]

I was in the middle of a Hot Rod Power Tour and had the "POT METAL" piece of garbage break in my tilt column. I had to do a teear down on the column with a flashlight and a friend in the motel parking lot in Louisville. The rest of the trip the truck was started with a screwdriver moving the start switch to the appropriate place to make contacts close. Once your remove the switch from the column it kinda hangs out to where you can get ahold of it.

[zzChevy]

Originally Posted by 1972C10

Yeah i had that peice of crap alum peice break on me you think they would make it out of something good like steel but noo they make it out of pot metal.

Mine got to where i had to take it off the top tilt position then it would start. finally broke

Exactly, I had to lower it down all the way in oder to start it. The owner before me said that that started to happen several years ago. Get it fixed did he.... nah, next guys problem.

I'm hoping to get a replacement column. I cant seem to get the turn signal cam wires loose though in the existing one.

[1972C10]

Yeah you have to take the colum plum apart to get to that part It wasnt too bad but there are two pins you have to remove and they make a special tool but i took a slider hammer and got a screw that fit in the hole i think it was 10 32 and popped them out after that my friend said i have a snap on tool for removing those

Wasnt too high tech looked like a large nut and a good hex head screw 10-32 and a flat washer would do the same

[piecesparts]

You can replace the parts for the column ignition without taking those nasty little pins out. All that goes past them little pieces of dirt is the rod to the ignition switch. everything that is breakable is above those pins. Been there, done that. I had the coumn apart in the dark and using a flashlight, kinda made me feel like a Marine in "Nam" field dressing a M-16. However, I had a purpose, ----I wanted to get home.

As for the turn signal cam wires-- unplug them at the bottom and then slide them up the column and pull the whole plastic assembly and wires out about five inches to get it out of the way. You don't have to get the wires off of the cam assembly.