Hey all,
Newbie here. I just purchased a 97 F150 Extracab Stepside. Absolutely love the truck. I'm glad to be back in a Ford (Had a Sportrac a couple of years ago). There's a few things I need to fix to make this truck 100% but it's very clean.

I was having the situation where I would take the key out, open the door and it would continue to chime. I took the bottom panel off the steering column and the little plastic piece with the contact fell out. It looks like it came out of it's assembly and the contact was grounding against the column.

Anyway, the cruise control doesn't work either and I've traced it back to either the connections in the column or the buttons themselves. I've done some searches on this site already but was unable to find an A to Z explanation on how to disassemble the column to get to everything in the column.

Can somebody post that or is there a link I am unaware of?

Is it possible to remove just the top and bottom plastic covers that go around the column and see the electronics so I can do a visual check? Thanks for your input.

 

Get a repair manual for your truck it will help you alot you can get them at a autoparts store good luck hope you find the problem

 

Bottom cover comes off easily, insert key into lock cylinder and turn to "on" position, with a 1/16 punch, push on keeper (inside hole at bottom) and remove key and cylinder assy. Top cover can now be removed. On my 2002 the shift lever (auto trans) and switch comes out as an assy. Good luck with the repair and don't forget to update with your success in order to help others.

 

Thanks Bill. I've taken other columns apart and was trying to find the combo to getting the ignition module out.