Hi guys,

I see that this is relatively common on high mileage EF Falcons (and similar). Went to start my car the other day, engine started so let key back to ignition and the starter stayed on. Luckily the engine stalled (so I hope I've not bust the starter - yet another expense on this bottomless pit of money) and when taking the key out I noticed that the car was still in the Accessory position, as the stereo was still on and the air recirc light was still on. So, taking the steering cowling off, I noticed that the backplate with all the ignition wiring on the end of the ignition barrel had come away, and the copper plate (that obviously completes the circuit) fell into the footwell - bummer!

I'm on a pretty tight budget (I'm one of those annoying backpackers from Britain!) and would like to just repair the car to get it running (the plan was to drive this thing across the Nullarbor - not looking that hopeful now!). I see that the backplate is just held in by being punched in place with the indents in the plastic being the places to do that, however it looks like someone has had to repair it before and it's not particularly clear where the plate should be located. I'm also guessing that the copper plate should be placed with the ridges facing out towards the contacts rather than with them pointing in towards the plastic. I have the spring as well to provide the pressure.

The annotations were for my Dad who's normally good at helping me, but not so easy from the other side of the world!






Does anybody have an official diagram or a guide on how to repair this - as getting the copper plate to stay in, pushing the wiring plate back in and then holding it whilst tapping it in place seems impossible for one man to do and there's not enough room for 2!

Any help appreciated!


Cheers,

Andy

sorry cant help any more than, the indent in the casing is factory. In mine the black backplate had come loose causing issues, so i held it in, and hammered a screwdriver into that indent to hold it in better

Cool - thanks for the reply. The indent is factory then - that's what I was beginning to think!

Will give it another go in a bit, got to redo a bit of dodgy wiring I've found on the battery earth terminal as well first!

If anyone else has any advice or tips I'd appreciate it!

Cheers

Ah shoot,

I've just had another go at reinstalling the switch and the black plastic cap has cracked.

Do you know if this part can be bought from Ford or is it a case of getting one from a scrapyard? The only trouble I can see now is that the wiring harness parts look like they're press in and will be alot of work - I didn't want to have to take it to a mechanic but I'm fast running out of tools and knowledge now!

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

was told by an auto electrican you have to buy the whole barrell, although he could be full of s**t like alot of auto tradesman these days.

how did you crack it?..... i remember hammering the living s**t out of the outside casing to hold it in better. Id say a trip to the wreckers will be in order

if it looks like a hassle to swap wires over, maybe hack them a few inches before the backing plate and solder them together instead of removing from the plate

For some reason mine was completely loose and just came apart - not sure what caused it to finally let go but it went (unfortunately about a day before I was supposed to go for a trip to the south of WA in it ).

So I tapped in the barrel part to get it to gently hold and then tapped the plate back into place very gently with a rubber hammer. Tried the key and nothing happened, so the copper plate mustn't have located properly (hence the question about which way round it's supposed to go - I'm nearly 100% certain I've got it the right way round). It must have popped off the locating key when I was pushing the plate in (this is very likely due to the tension from the spring). However, second go round I thought it was going well when tapping it back in gently with a rubber hammer (and I mean gently) and the plastic just fell apart, with the crack going along the earthing strip on the inside. I'm a bit gutted as I've got my work starting again tomorrow and I'll have very little spare time to get to a scrapyard and don't want to buy a new barrel from Ford, as I know this one WILL work if I get it back together correctly! This is where I miss my friends from back home, nobody I know round here is mechanically minded and so I'm all on my own!

Thanks for the advice, I imagine the whole barrel will be one piece, it's the same situation back in the UK for parts like this.


Looks like I'll be buying a soldering iron then!


Cheers

haha id say a good old twisting of the wires & electrical tape is in order, at least should do the job while your in Oz

try posting over in Perth eseries maybe someone there might be able to come give you a hand if they are close enough?

http://www.pertheseries.com/forums/index.php?

Yeah, just chatted to my Dad on Skype and he said get some terminal block and see if I can work out what wire does what and get the thing started that way, then I can drive myself to a scrapyard to get the new backplate at the weekend rather than having to try and scab a lift with someone!

There's a Bunnings local to me, so going to see what electrical stuff they do for things like this and if they have nothing I'll get myself a soldering iron.

Will try that website if I have no joy over the next couple of hours - thanks for the link and advice!

Cheers

This exact same thing happened to me last weekend. I'm pretty sure you've sorted out the orientation of the wiring part in relation to the rest of the barrel. To put it back together you need a punch of some sort, someone else to help you hold it while you hit the punch on the indents. And then strong duct tape to tape all the way round the steering column and round the back of the key barrel where the wiring popped off. Even if the part where the wires connect cracked you should still be able to tape in near enough position to start the car.

Where abouts in Perth are you?

Edit : the copper bit has flat side facing the spring and key. And bumps facing the part that has fallen out with the wires. When you push the wires part back in it should go all the way past the lip on the back of the key barrel. So you need a bit of effort to compress it in there against the spring and tape it in place. Or to hit the indents in.

Use a hammer and punch to undo the bolt holding the entire lock assembly and put another 1 on.

As above, also you can replace the barrel (key bit) with your old one with a press of the button underneath.

Be sure to re-stake the now (second hand) one so the a** doesn't fall out as well.

You will have to retrain your BEM, so leave the ignition ON for 45mins until the locks cycle (leave window down just in case. and all should be good.

Andrew

Thanks alot for the replies guys - I gave up on it yesterday as I had to get ready for my first day back at work. Glad that's over - I'm about to go outside armed with a coffee, superglue, hammer and a screwdriver (closest thing I have in my limited toolkit to a punch).

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Cheers

Right - had a bit more success with it tonight. I glued the wire cap back together (a little bit was missing, but nothing important by the look of it) and then located the cap back as close to how it should be as I thought possible. I wrapped it up nice and tight with several layers of gaffa tape to keep it in place and reconnected the battery (I don't like leaving wires dangling that are permanently hot). Turned the key and it fired up, however, when I let the key back to ignition once the engine has fired, the accessory circuit appears to switch off, meaning no air con, heater controls or stereo. Could this just be me having put the switch back together out of line - I'm thinking that would make sense but it does mean I'll have to take the whole lot apart again (I'm getting pretty experienced at it now!).

I've e-mailed a scrapyard up in Midvale and they've given me a price of $110 for a complete unit with a key - anybody know how much they are new from Ford? If I can't get my existing one repaired properly then I'll have to bite the bullet!

Thanks again for all your replies - it's been very helpful!

Andy

thats the same symptoms i had with mine, ie: car started & ran fine, but no power windows/stereo/cigarette lighter

it was because the black backing plate was ever so slighty popping out of the casing

Ahhh, OK. That's good in a way, means I can have another attempt tomorrow at getting it in there tomorrow. If no joy I'll be buying myself a secondhand unit to replace it from the scrappy.

Cheers!