Key issue

[Chucknwii]

I had a 98 ranger given to me yesterday 2wd 5spd 4 cylinder. There is a problem with the ignition or armature bar or something

the key is extremely hard to turn, I took the tumbler out and it spins freely with the key in it.

sometimes it shows me both brake lights red and orange and the airbag light and the Speedo, Ac, radio all stop working .. other times when I can get it to the on position everything works fine ..

my question is where do I start to diagnose this ?

The truck is from a family member, it’s been sitting for a long time has some mold on the interior etc

it was a 2 hour drive home and the engine ran perfectly.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

On older rangers the key pushes a rod down the steering column to the ignition switch. I've had those switches fall apart. In some cases you can use zip ties to hold them together. Some times they are too far gone to fix and need replacement.