The ignition cylinders in the Ford's are notorious for sticking. This is an easy fix, unless you leave it to long. I ignored mine for a few years, and it finally got me.....one of the tiny pins inside the cylinder fell out, thus blocking the key from being able to go all the way in to the cylinder. This is extremely embarrassing when you have just filled up with gas, and can't leave the gas station. Luckily for me, it was early on a Sunday morning, and the station wasn't very busy.

The easy way:

    Insert the key into the cylinder, turn to the "on" position, press the pin in that is located on the underside of the steering column. Now you just pull the cylinder out. You may have to wiggle a bit, or turn the key just a little, but that is all there is to it.
To install the new cylinder, just slide it into the column until the bottom tab goes into the square housing, and make sure the little pin locks into it's hole, and you are done.

The hard way:

    There is no easy way of doing this if you can't get your key into the cylinder, or if you can't turn the key to the "on" position. If this has happened to you, you will need a drill, an assortment of sharp drill bits, and lots of time. Yes, you have to drill out the center of the cylinder. Start with a small drill bit, and work your way to a larger one, until you have drilled out the center (the part that rotates) of the cylinder. Once you have done this, you can then get a flathead screwdriver, put it in what is left of the cylinder, and turn the bottom piece (as if you were turning to the "on" position). Now you can pull the rest of the cylinder out. Again, you may have to wiggle the cylinder bit, or remove some burs left from drilling, but it will come out. Slide the new cylinder in, then get a vacuum to clean up all the metal shavings.

    I did mine the hard way, and took me almost 8 hours. About 3 hours of that was drilling and cursing, and the rest was running around getting the part, towing the truck home, and figuring out how the heck to get the cylinder out. Not the day I had planned, so if your key sticks at all, CHANGE IT NOW!! A $20 part is not worth the aggravation.