car won't start

I have been battling with non starting vehicle. Now I find that the ignition switches off when operating starter. What an amazingly good feature. More delving needed. Are there any circuits that are normally switched off when starting, perhaps to reduce the battery load?

No,  Ignition switches do go bad.
The key switch that operates in the start position also operates the run position, and the Load reduction relay. which cuts off the lights blower motor wipers so there isn't any addition load on the battery and you get full power to the starter.

When the starter side is released the swithc returns to the run position and not the key in but not turned.

Why do switches act funky?  Have a Teen Driver that has 37 pounds of stuff on her fob.  Then the car tuns off when driving in a turn because the heavy metal and weighted fob pendulates, and switches the key off.  

Wear and tear, old age and brittle plastics.

Ah, I wonder if somebody has wired the ignition to this load reduction relay. Which would explain the "feature" I'm experiencing. I will investigate, thanks for that lead

Whoa, the load reduction relay is part of the start function of the automobile.

There are 4 positions of the ignition switch.

Key out.

Key in, door bell chime, and lights that work when the
door opens, as well as lamps for the headlight switch and seat belt and brake warming lamps are lit to mention a few of the things.

Run, all things work, and the fuel pumps will prime for 4 seconds. Blower fans operate, Turns operate, Headlights shine, everything powered by the "X" circuit in the schematics rear defrost, wipers to mention a few as the load reduction relay is engaged.

Start, engages, the starter and opens the pick of the load reduction relay which cuts off killing electrics to the X circuit while the starter is running and only while the key is in the start position.
The fuel pumps and main engine management electrics still work, as in the ignition systems.

When you release the key from START it returns to the RUN position.
If the the key returns to the KEY IN position then your ignition switch is bad, as it should return to the Run position and run only, you have to manually move it to Key in which disables all the Ignition systems or things that need to "RUN" to keep engine running.

For more information on the "X" circuit see:
https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/the-x-circuit-from-the-ignition-switch.6761577/
He even lists a simple test for that circuit.

 

I filled the ignition switch full of WD 40, left it a while and then tried it again. Seems to have  worked touch wood.  Thank you very much for that

Hooray, got it started and it ran for 10secs before stopping. I took one of the fuel lines off the distributor and found a mixture of fuel and air bubbles in the liquid.
So will take it off the ramps, put more fuel in and try again tomorrow. I reckon it should work.

Next thing is to change the water pump which is leaking like a sieve