1970 Ignition Switch Question

[Midlife 814]

I have a customer who is having all sorts of electrical issues.  I had him do some troubleshooting, and finally talked to him on the phone.  One troubleshooting step was measuring continuity and voltage along the red/blue NSS/starter signal line.  This is tough to do with just one set of hands, so I asked him how he got the key to stay in the CRANK position while measuring voltage.  He said he just turned the key and it stayed there. 

Say WHAT?  Isn't there an internal spring inside the ignition switch so that when you release the key from CRANK it returns to the RUN position?  It does that on earlier Mustangs, but 1970 was the first column mounted ignition switch, so things might be a bit different.

All of his problems could be due to the ACC lines being inactive during CRANK and if the key switch is not entirely centered on the CRANK position, it may not give voltage to the starter solenoid due to the defective ignition switch.

Please confirm that the key should return to RUN when released from the CRANK position. 

[aslanefe 333]

Hey Mid, yes 70 key should return to RUN when you let the key loose after CRANK. I put a repro switch on one of my 70 Mustangs a few years ago and it did return to RUN for a while but after using it a little ( within a couple weeks) it stopped returning back to RUN. So the spring on his switch might have lost it's tension too if he is using a repro switch. I just added a  spring on the rod of the switch that is between the pin on the rod and the switch itself so it returns to RUN. Kept the original switch, need to clean it and put it back some time.

[Midlife 814]

Update and resolution: the customer did not have the ignition switch itself properly installed.  When rotated a few degrees, the internal CRANK spring began to work and all is now operational.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

That's a nice saguaro cactus you switched to Mid. 

[Midlife 814]

1 hour ago, Mach1 Driver said:

That's a nice saguaro cactus you switched to Mid. 

I tried to find a five fingered one on Google, but failed.  Tomorrow, I plan to go to a nearby National Park which specializes in saguaros and see if I can picture one.

[rmarks 20]

Here's one:

[Mach1 Driver 560]

My son lives in Prescott and due to the weather they don't have grass, but instead rock. So now instead of telling the kids to get off your lawn...

[Midlife 814]

10 hours ago, rmarks said:

Here's one:

That's a seven finger one.

[danno 128]

That is almost obscene to have the middle finger extended like that.  It should not be done in a polite desert. 

[Midlife 814]

What about this one?

 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

well if ya wanta give us the bird, use this...

[Midlife 814]

*GASP!*  This is a Ford forum, not a MOPAR forum!

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Yeah you're right , it should definitely be something pink. Maybe something like this Pink Arizonian Barn Buzzard (I saw it on the internet so it must be true):

[Midlife 814]

I think I saw something like that back in college when I was having a bad acid trip or something...