Done! Bought a $4 snap ring pliers set at Harbor Freight and Frankesteined the pliers so they fit in the cylinder. Got the gear out and it was off by one notch. Cleaned with electrical contact cleaner, dry lubed with Dry Ice (Used for lubing exposed gears on RC cars) and then realigned so the last tooth of the gear matches the last tooth on the rod. Now the ACC works as it should and the cylinder turns better. Still does not spring back the best, but there was a little improvement.
I have the similar problem now but my key was stuck in the ignition. The funny thing is that it was working all perfectly fine. The key was moving correctly to ACC, OFF, start and RUN positions. While I was removing my steering wheel something moved the the gear off by one position and this jams the key in the one position after the OFF position. I now cannot move the key to the OFF position to remove the key. The only way to get the key out is to remove the ignition barrel. Do you have any idea what caused the gear to move one position in your case?
I don't really know what moved the gear's position. I bought my car and it was like that. My assumption was that the key cylinder may have been replaced/serviced and not properly installed.
Could it be that the mechanism is loose or worn, and when the steering wheel was removed the lock rod was pushed and made it go out of position? The rod that locks the steering wheel is engaged to the gears. Is the lock rod sticking out when the key is in the off position? If not, does it stick out when in ACC? If you push the lock rod, does it easily move inwards?