Ignition issues

Hi Guys,

Has anyone else experieced the following issue?

I put my key in the ignition, turn it and, click click click is all I get.  Now before you blame the starter the starter works fine, infact it's new.  The Signal (Activation) wire from the ignition is also intact and working fine as the voltage is around 12.10 when key is fully turned.  There are "Good Grounds" on the engine too.  I have had to resort to adding a seperate relay and then all is good and the the car starts perfectly.  But directly from ignition it ait cooperating

Could this be caused by the electrical bit in the ignition being bad?

Mike

Well I would suspect that your Battery isn't fully charged. Battery voltage should be about 13.7 to 12.8 just sitting there doing nothing.
The Low voltage if the car is on, means that you have resistance to current some where between the Battery and the Start, usually the Battery to ignition switch start side back to the starter, which is a long run of wire to pull up to 30A at start.

This would leave me to think that maybe your Alternator to main battery cable is weak.

I would check the Voltage on your running engine to verify that it is indeed 13.8-14V

Good Grounds as they have been replaced or just new ends there is a difference…. Putting new ends on a dead cable or cleaning the ends on a dead cable is like a placebo pill makes you feel good, but don't do a thing for you.  The original Battery ground cable was a unshielded braid of wires that over the years is subject to battery outgassing road salts in the winter and grime so much so that the cable becomes individual strands of wire as there is garbage sitting between the strands, and in electrics the Higher Current tends to run in the outside of the cable and not on the inside of the bundles….

The addition of the Heat Soak relay is telling me that your wire that runs from the Battery to the ignition switch back to the starter or the Ignition switch itself is an issue.

The reason for the Heat soak relay on the cars was a TSB for Automatic Transmissions was due the heat of sitting starter under the manifold caused the Starter Solenoid to go iffy, and the starter to loose clearance due to expansion of the metals.

It also reduced the "high" current off the ignition switch and reduced the run of "High" current from 10-12 feet of wire to 3-4 feet depending on how you ran your relay.

The addition of the relay and the shorter run to the battery kind of makes the starter "JUMP" start  as it is getting the Juice.

Taking the "high" current loads off the switch is a good thing, as well as the installation of relays for your head lights increase the life expectancy of your head light switch, and makes your lights brighter.

Hey Bud,

Thanks for the feedback but I'm pretty sure the battery isn't the problem, apart from it being just over six months old the normal voltage after vehicle shutdown is around 12.78VDC and charging voltage while idling is around 13,68VDC.  Also it is a much larger battery than what is standard on these cars.

Also when I upgraded the car from carb to Fi I also upgraded the alternator from a weak 40A to a more powerfull 95A unit and at the same time thought it would be a good idea to sort out the wiring.  I upgraded and replaced the positive cables from battery to starter and alternator with somewhat thicker cables, new fasteners and new battery terminals.  The old braided ground wire was still in good nick as here in africa we dont have the same degrading enviromental effects, but I still replaced it with new insulated type, also with new fasteners and a new battery terminal.  And just the other day I replaced the insulation around the engine wiring harness.  While doing so I inspected all the wires and found no evidence of wiring in a bad condition.  Apart from physically testing each one individually they were all confirmed in good condition.

The non starting problem only started long after the wiring upgrades were done.  I agree running seperate relays takes a lot of the heavy current draw off the weaker electronic components such as ignition and light switches but unless you incorporate them into your existing fuse box it just makes everything look untidy having relays everywhere, at least according to my OCDI honestly think the ignition switch is the culprit, I just haven't had the time or money to go buy a new one and install it but will soon and update this thread as soon as I have.  I was just wondering if anyone else has ever experienced any similar issues with their ignition switches.

Cheers.

Sounds like a dodgy ignition switch, its a common issue.

OCD or not keeping the relays near the components is more effective than placing them in the Fuse box area as the direct run from the battery through the relay and to the component is what makes the performance more effective.  If you hid them under the dash lets say then you still have the increased length of wiring that can drop the current down.

And is done right you don't notice them or the wiring when finished.

I am as about anallyretentative as the next when it comes to the appearance of things under the hood to make them look more OEM than the original makers.

Ignition switches are more easily replaced in pre-90 Cabriolets, and on 80 Cabbies or mk1's isn't that hard at all.  I will only suggest that you place a Screwdriver in the Steering columns lower u-join and use a block of wood to hold the shaft in place when you go back as I usually would move the lower bearing out of place going back which on my 90's Cabriolets with the Airbag a real PITA to get the clip on the first time I had to replace the ignition switch as the shaft compressed and the lower bearing fell out of place and I fought that sucker until I realized that I had compressed the shaft and dropped the bearing… Once I got it all sorted and used the lever on the u-joint it was very easy…. DOH.