jdtyler

My 98 Mustang was working fine. Came back and it wouldn't turn on. I put the key in and theres no tension behind turning the key. It's just loose. my radio and lights turn on fine. After messing with it a little the theft light started blinking. I tried replacing the ignition switch and the same problem was occurring. Any ideas on what might be going wrong?

LivinTheStangLife

hmmm. I cant say for sure but I know 94-98 had **** ignition switches. my 95 gt is all loose like that but its wired to a push button after you turn the key on so im not much help here. im sure other people have had this problem. I know my parents had a 95 v6 that had the same problem and they had it fixed and I was too young and they don't remember squat, so I have no idea what they had replaced. I would think replacing the switch would fix that as it should be new and tight unless theres another piece in there along with the switch that needs replaced, or you got a bad part

jdtyler

I don't think it was a bad part. I believe the issue is somewhere else but I may be wrong. I replaced the tumbler and the ignition starter switch and the same problem. Do you think it may have something to do with the theft system since the theft light was blinking? And if that's the case then I have to take it to the dealership right?

LivinTheStangLife

do you at least get like the spring tension you normally get when you try to crank the car over or does the switch just spin around? if it just spins I think there's a part in the steering column that's bad I think because there should be that little bit of tension on it that pushes it back to run after you crank it over. if not and the theft light is flashing you could've messed up the antitheft. I cant remember with that year if it has to be flashed at a dealer or not. some small shops have the scan tools to flash the anti theft system if that's what it needs. I cant say for sure because ive never had a car that has had an issue with the anti theft before

jdtyler

No I didn't get any spring tension. There wasn't even any tension behind the key turning when I put in the new ignition switch, it just spun around loosely. Do you have any idea what that part in the steering column is called?

LivinTheStangLife

I don't know, you could call or stop in to a ford dealer and stop by the parts department. They should be able to pull up an exploded view of the steering column and figure out what the part is