Went out to the Garage today to crank up my 72 Maverick and found that the Ignition key will not go into the lock cylinder. This is a Floor shift 302 car - the shifter is in Park and the steering column is in the locked position as it should be. The key goes in about 1/4" at an odd angle and stops no where near far enough in to turn the ignition to start and unlock the column. . I'm assuming that the internals of the lock came apart but where do I go from here? How do you remove the lock cylinder in this situation without damaging the column or switch ?
check and see if something has been broken off in the cyl... also rock the steering wheel back and forth while trying the key.
Sometimes the bezel (The chrome part with the 2 protrusions on it) on the outside of the switch will come loose and slip a little. Look down inside the switch and see if the bezel lines up with the key slot in the cylinder. If it has just turn it back to where it lines up and insert key. If it is lined up and there are no obstructions in the switch you might try a little PB Blast to free it up. if that doesn't work then you may have to drill out the tumblers. The switch will only come out if it is in the run position. Good luck with it, I have done this several times through the years.
