hey guys, yester day i drove my '70 maverick over a speed bump and heard something arking under the dash and my car cut of so i turned the key and started it back up. i pulled off and it cuts of agin this time there is smoke comeing from imbetween the ignition and coloum i turned the keys to acc and no lighets gauges or any thing. I try to start it and it will spin over but won't stay on and no lights will come on. any ideas will be greatly appreacited.
Check all the fuses and all your connections from battery to firewall just for starters, maybe the ignition switch burnt out?
My guess would be in the steering column where the ignition cylinder is. When you turn the key it should make that connection and know when it has be turned. The ignition cylinder is different than the ignition switch. Do you have any play when wiggling the ignition cylinder with the key in? Someone else will correct me on this as ive never taken apart the entire column before only replaced the ignition cylinder.
Well then the ignition switch should be attached to the cylinder. I didnt know they had mavericks with it on the dash. Wish mine was like that. Can you look under the dash and look for something that looks like this in the link? Its the second reply down. It may look different than this, I think this one is for the steering column but should be similar. You might have to remove the ash try to see behind it. http://www.maverick.to/mmb/showthread.php?t=74323
Your car is an early Maverick commonly referred to as a 69 1/2. The switch is attached to the package tray with a couple of screws. You can probably drop it down good enough to inspect the wires. Guessing you have a wire that has shorted out.
