Ignition switch

[Anonymous]

It will fire as long as I hold the key close to the on/start position, but the instant I let go of the key at idle it dies. I managed to hold the key enough to get her up to about 45 MPH and then let go of the key, but ran just fine. Today was the first time in 5 years, since owning the car that this has happened. Bad ignition switch perhaps? If yes, is it easy to replace?

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

easy to replace.....just takes a small socket to get teh nut off the cable end and a paperclip. not sure about the stang switch but my fairlane one is usually in stock and under $10

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Autozone has an ignition switch, less lock and cylinder for $7.99 and an ignition lock cylinder w/ keys for an additional $4.89. I think I will play it safe and get the lock and cylinder also.

 

[Anonymous]

The ignition switch and lock cylinder are completly diffrent. Autozone told me the orginal part(s) were superseded. The old unit had screw on wire connections with labels for battery, starter, accesory, and ignition. It also had a screw on face bezel and was much smaller than the new unit. The problem is that the new unit has no labels or similarity to the old unit, other than the center connector for the starter. It has four press on terminals (???) and one screw on terminal (starter) in the center. I have a red/black wire and a red wire that were soldered together, a red wire, and a red/white wire. I am almost postive the single red wire is the starter, the red/white wire is the ignition, and the red/black and red wire together are battery. Although I cant seem to wire them up correctly on the new ignition switch! Please help with a picture or a diagram.

 

[addo]

Have a look on page 13 of the online NPD catalogue. P/N 11572-2 is the ignition switch as I've seen it. Doubt that 64½ would be different as it's the same part Falcons were using, before the Mustang.

Does the "Vatozone" (as Linc put it :roll: ) unit look different to that?

 

[Anonymous]

Well after looking at the unit in the car for awhile, I now think the ignition switch and lock cylinder that came with the car is some sort of "universal" unit installed by the PO, rather than stock. So that explains why every unit I see is different. I'll have to check my NPD catalog after work tonight to make sure, but the unit I got from Autozone looks like the one in my Mustang Plus catalog for sure. Evidently the stock unit requires a spacer behind the dash and a bezel on the front with labels?

 

[addo]

Yes, there's a bezel which fits from the front, then a spring from behind the dash, then a spring cup (can't see this in the pics, so maybe not) and the switch pushes up through all this. It's easiest with the dash disconnected and lifted aside a little. You can reach through then. Note that unhooking the battery is good sense!

When installing all the parts from the rear, you need to push the switch too far forward. This is so you can push on and twist the bayonet type fitting of the bezel, to the switch. The spring holds it all in place. You'll also notice a little indexing notch in the dash metal to stop the asembly rotating.

The wiring harness has a plug that slips over the peripheral terminals, and a centre eyelet that's held onto the extending threaded stud with a 10-32 brass nut (or two, for locking purposes).

It's simple if you can see all the bits out the car. Then you know what you're fumbling for, when installing it!

Regards, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much Adam, your tips will greatly help with these tasks. When you say dash disconnected, should I just remove the instrument panel? I'll let you know how the progress goes.

 

[addo]

Yep, that's what I meant. Just far enough out the way for getting a hand behind if/when needed.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I attempted to pull the instrument panel out a little, but it doesn't seem to want to come through because of the after market dash cap installed by the PO over the original dash. I made the mistake of trying to lift up a little, breaking the adhesive glue seal on the dash. Other than the dash cap, is there anything else that may be preventing the panel from moving? I've heard that the speedometer cable can sometimes be a very tight connection, but it looks like it has plenty of slack to me. Since all the wires are literally just hanging from the bottom of my dash, do you think I could take some longer wires and just wire nut them to the original wires? That way I would have all the connections right in front of me. Just a thought. Thanks again for all your help and valuable advise.

 

[Anonymous]

Autozone...

Always the right parts at the right prices :vomit:


If you want I can run over to Texas Mustang Parts and take a picture of theirs (if they have one in stock)

 

[addo]

If you can get to it OK from the bottom and avoid risk of short circuits, that method should be the ticket. Sounds as though the instrument cluster is best left for another day. The whole loom is pretty simple really; not a lot of circuits. You can always make a nice fix of the deal later.

Regards, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

I would have to agree Linc. If it wasn’t for shipping costs and time, I would order all my parts through a catalog. I cant begin to tell you how many times I have had to literally remove the part from my car and show them that the part they sold me isn’t correct. Everything from spark plugs to drive belts takes at least a few trips. Its not like I drove off from McDonalds forgetting my milkshake and decided not to turn around because I’ve went to far. If you sell me the wrong part, I'll be back (again). Thanks guys, I'll be working on her tomorrow sometime, so I'll let you know. Any idea who has the best price on the ignition switch front bezel and back spacer? Mustang Plus has the bezel for $11.95 and the spacer for $6.95.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I managed to get the old ignition switch to work. A little CRC contact cleaner goes a long way apparently. Was a combination of loose connections and corroded terminals I believe. For some reason the new ignition switch just didn’t jive with my wiring. It wanted to start in the ON position no matter how I hooked it up. Perhaps I can figure it out and make the swap at a later time. Thanks for all your help guys.