Ignition switch

Honestly, I'm not looking to completely rebuild the steering column. It's an old DOT truck, but I would like to keep it as it only has 55,000 miles. It's possible the ignition key cylinder housing was damaged when I drilled out the old cylinder although I don't know for sure. I didn't see any damage when I removed the cylinder although the lock pin on the bottom does not seem to be functioning properly now - it looks like it's stuck in the "up" position. If I could just find out why the shift lever is now locked in park and get the gear shift working, I would be happy to keep using the ignition actuator to start the truck.

From what I've read, two things need to happen for the shifter to move - foot on brake, and ignition to "on" position (in this case the actuator). Since the brake lights work properly, I'm assuming the brake light switch is working properly. I read a forum which said to make sure there were no blown fuses (like say, the air bag fuse) and said the truck could have a blown fuse and gone into "safety mode" (whatever that means). The other thing is the new key cylinder - even though it's not connected to anything, the key buzzes when it is inserted with the door open. I wonder if it might be causing some kind of shift interlock to engage. I will try to remove the cylinder to see if it has any effect. I will also check the fuses.

One other thing, on the steering column, there is a slot with a Teflon slider where the ignition actuator pin fits into. This slider (as I recall, before putting the new ignition cylinder in) would move freely back and forth (as it should, I assume - it's the mechanism the key cylinder uses to move the actuator pin). Now - the slider won't budge.

I removed the "shift interlock" solenoid and pawl on top of the steering column, but to no effect. I've seen conflicting descriptions of this part online, calling it the "shift interlock" and another that describes it as the "neutral safety switch". Can you identify it properly? I will attach a photo.

One last question - can you tell me if there is some other interlock (other than the one I removed) than this one that would lock the shifter into park? Is there one in the transmission? Or is it somewhere else on the steering column?

Well, now I'm reading this interlock is what allows the shifter to come out of Park when the brake is depressed. The shifter worked fine before I replaced the cylinder. I guess I could try replacing the solenoid with a new one, but something tells me it isn't faulty.

The brake lights work, so it's not the brake light switch. I checked the fuses for the interlock (actually I checked all the fuses in the fuse box under the dash), they were all good. I'm going to assume the shift interlock is necessary to get the truck out of park. The only explanation I can come up with is somehow the power to the interlock was interrupted for some reason. The only change was trying to replace the key ignition cylinder. A friend suggested the interlock failed, but that seems far fetched to me.

Thank you for the diagram. I'm going to try a few things, maybe install a new shift interlock. I'll let you know how things go.

I will get some photos for you as soon as I can. Thank you for your response! And yes the slider will not budge.

I also ordered new new shift interlock/solenoid and I'm waiting for that to arrive.

I really need to get this truck going, it's a good truck and I really need to get it going. Thank you for being engaged, it means a lot to me.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pix/video.

Truck is an XL, there is no tilt mechanism.

It might be a couple of days but I will try to remove the ignition switch and the top cover, and send photos of the upper side of the column. Thank you again for your assistance.

Thank you for this information. I should be able to disassemble soon, will update when I have it apart. Thank you very much.

I attempted to remove the ignition lock cylinder and was unable. I pushed on the unlock pin with the key in the ignition in dn ON position. The clynder would not come out.