Hello - After many years of having the key fob fly off the steering column every time the door was shut I finally changed the ignition lock. I got the old one out and new one in, but it is stuck in the 'run' position and will not go back to the off-accesory positions. I did a search and was thinking I might have to pull the whole column apart, mainly the turn signal housing and see what is preventing the key from turning back to the off setting(seems like a big pita). I also read that maybe the lower part of the column just needs to be rotated back and fourth (sounds a lot easier). It was a column shift now a floor shift. This was done years before I bought the car so I don't know what was done during the conversion. The shift selector on the column has never moved in sync w/ the floor shift, so I do belive the connecting linkage is missing from the floor to column, but it (the ignition lock) has always worked fine. So I must have jarred something while r&r'ing the ignition lock, any thoughts, I don't want to pop the hood and pull the coil wire to shut her off!

It sounds to me like you're going to have to pull the steering wheel and lock plate back off of the column and make sure that the column shift is in the park position. It's possible that you jarred it down into reverse or between park and reverse when you R&R'd the old ignition switch.

That is what I am hoping, if it is just out of alignment and needs to be moved back to the park position. Just hoping I don't have to pull the whole turn signal/ignition lock assembly off the steering column to get this working right. The gear indicator did seem to have moved a little since this project began(on the column - no longer in use). Thanks, I will see what happens.

OK, the column shift slid when I was working on it, just like you said,it was held in place by my tach clamp, so adjusted , tighented, put back together , no problem. Thanks!

Even with the shift lever out of the UP position; you should always be able to shut your engine off. You may not be able to remove your key from the lock cylinder, but you should always be able to reach the OFF position.

Here are the lock cylinder and ignition switch positions from full CW to full CCW.

START (spring returns your key to RUN)
RUN - detent
OFF - detent
OFF-LOCK detent and shift lever must be in PARK (auto trans) or REVERSE (manual)
ACCESSORY - detent and must push key and lock cylinder in toward column while rotating CCW

It sounds as if your ignition switch may not be adjusted correctly on your steering column jacket.

JIML82

Even with the shift lever out of the UP position; you should always be able to shut your engine off. You may not be able to remove your key from the lock cylinder, but you should always be able to reach the OFF position.

Here are the lock cylinder and ignition switch positions from full CW to full CCW.

START (spring returns your key to RUN)
RUN - detent
OFF - detent
OFF-LOCK detent and shift lever must be in PARK (auto trans) or REVERSE (manual)
ACCESSORY - detent and must push key and lock cylinder in toward column while rotating CCW

It sounds as if your ignition switch may not be adjusted correctly on your steering column jacket.

JIML82

Thanks for the reply JIML82 - I thought that as well, but it was just a case of the column shift area moving when I changed out the ignition lock. It was hard to tell because my tach is clamped right around that area and i did'nt think it would move, but when it did I could not return the key from the run position. After I undid the clamp and rotated the column back to the park position all was fine. Thanks

Glad we could help!