Hey all, it's been too long since I've been here.

The 01 is still kicking, my Dad has been treating it well since we swapped vehicles 5 years ago. He'll call me up every now and then regarding stuff about it. Lately I've been too busy with the family to get out there to do some work on it.
Late December, he parked the truck with the wheels turned and the wheel locked. It was a week or so before he used it, but the key would not turn in the ignition. Apparently he tried to wiggle the wheel while turning the key with no luck. I was in Florida until February and by that time a "mechanic" friend of his had torn apart the dash and ignition to try to release it. Diagnosis was the ignition lock cylinder was shattered and had to be replaced. Also that it was cheaper to replace the entire steering column.
I was over there yesterday for Easter and gave the Ranger a look. I took the key and tried to turn it, yep, it was locked. I grabbed the steering wheel and gave it a turn while turning the key and the key turned into the start position. Now as the truck was sitting for almost 4 months and January, February, and March has weeks on end of -30 some degrees so the battery was dead. Gave it a boost and it started first try. Good old trusty Ranger. So long story short, he should have called me or searched Google for the problem before letting his "mechanic" friend rape the interior. Many scratches in the plastic from screwdriver prying, the key trim is damaged and snapped, and the blue piece for the PATS system at the ignition cylinder is damaged. Buddy tried to just attack everything. A simple Google search would have revealed the entire lock cylinder could be removed by depressing the little button. So angry...LOL

So here's the question, does the blue piece need to be attached? The truck starts and stops perfect.

I do not have a picture of my truck, but here's one from the net that indicates the piece.

The blue piece has a small metal tab that looks to slide into the bottom of the cylinder but now it is broken and cannot be slid back in. It is hanging out.
Everything seems to work, so can I leave it as is?
Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance.

 

Electrical guru's, where did you all go? Someone must know something.

 

Couple of pictures here that might be helpful.
computer chip ignition switch - Ford Explorer and Ranger Forums "Serious Explorations"®

The blue piece is part of the PATS ignition ring, so yes it is needed, and needs to stay where it is or it will not detect PATS key in ignition, range is 1" or less, and because of the "ring" layout putting a PATS key near the key switch doesn't work, it must be "in the ring" for the computer/PATS module to detect it.