Alright - it's cold outside... about zero Farenheit. The colder it gets, the harder it is to turn my ignition key far enough to start the truck. When the weather was warmer, it would stick in the 'start' position, and I'd have to flip it back to 'on'. Now it takes some gorilla grip to get it to start.

OK... I have a momentary push-button ignition switch laying in the garage. I can't bear the thought of taking the column apart to figure out what's worn out now. Add those two together and you get:

Does anyone know how to wire this momentary switch?

It has two connections, and from the Chilton wiring diagram, my 1991 5.0 has a light green/red wire for the ignition. Do I run the light green/red to one side and black (ground) to the other? Would that still require the key to be turned to 'on' before it would start? How could I wire it to get rid of the key all together? I guess the key would have to be used to turn the damned thing back off... I've searched and haven't found a lot of info on this. I've found a lot of info on how to wire a Dodge, and if you are a high school kid driving a Honda, there is a ton of info out there.

Where is the info for an old fart driving a Ford truck and trying to save a buck?

 

pushbutton ignition only starts the engine, you still have to put the key in it to go anywhere, and no you dont want to run anything to gorund except ground or you will have a short circuit with the ground, since the earth is positively charged

 

I dont know, there has to be a way around the key, i mean, i have a remote start on my 08, and these keys have "chips" in them so that a copy key wont start the engine....yet, by a push of a button a hundred feet a way and my truck is on...So im sure there is a way to figure it out. But, it will definately take some modifications.

 

the reaosn for you having to turn the key is so your battery turns on the rest of the equipment on the truck, powersteering, antilock breaks, etc

 

Still there should be a way to by pass that with a switch of some sort. Flick the switch, power on, push the button for ignition????

 

i guess anything is possible...

 

Well, a key is basically a switch. Especially on older cars. Which is why their easy to hot wire. By turning the key, you close the circut sending juice to everything. They key is just that, it unlocks the circut control allowing you to open and close it. So if you get rid of the key, and wire in a switch, you should be able to power on/off the battery and have a button close the ignition circut.

 

in theory it would work, but it sounds like youd have to remove the ignition altogether and replace it with a normal switch, which doesnt sound very anti-theft

 

true, its pretty much like hanging a STEAL ME! sign on the front window, but he said he wanted to get rid of the key all together.

 

imho, i think the bad outweighs the good in this one. but whatever floats your boat i guess