alefler

Hi.

I have a 1990 f150 and have been having problems with truck starting when turning the key

Battery is fine
Starter is fine

It just that the connection to start is not happening in the ignition lock area.

Any ideas?

Aaron

pm59723

Have you tried jumping the solenoid? Search around on here/youtube for starter solenoid and that should help you narrow down whether the solenoid is bad, if it's the ignition switch, or if there's something wrong with the circuit to the starter.

Steve83

This is a very (and increasingly-) common problem on pre-'92 tilt columns. It's also VERY common for owner's NOT to realize that the column tilts because the tilt-release lever is the blinker stalk. Look at the hole in the column where the blinker stalk screws in - if it's simply a vertical slot, the column does NOT tilt. But if it has a point toward the front, and a vertical bar visible in front of the stalk inside the column, pushing the stalk forward releases the tilt. But be careful because they get sticky after NOT being used for years, and pushing too hard can damage the mechanism or break the stalk.

Anyway...
The problem with tilt ignition lock cylinders is the actuators between the cylinder & the switch, as this diagram shows, and its caption explains:


(phone app link)