No start - Possible Ignition Switch

[f-150_xl]

Starting at the beginning - the car (1991 FI 4spd 200,000 miles) is my fathers car which he drove daily approx 80 round trip miles for two years. It has been a great car until one day, it wouldnt start. the problem continued intermittenly for over a week until he was forced to take it to a garage. they found nothing wrong of course, but the problem remains. Sometimes it starts and runs perfect, sometimes it wont fire and cranks endlessly. The car sat for 6 months until i decided to tackle the problem myself. Now, i was not knowledgeable on festivas until this site, but ive now narrowed it down to what i believe to be an ignition switch problem. wiggling and jiggling the key causes the dash lights and door buzzer to come on but briefly and intermittenly. i took the switch apart and found it badly corroded and worn. I cleaned it but it only improved it slightly. the car used to crank without starting but now it wont even crank. i found two wires that appear to have been sodered to something inside the plastic housing somewhere but i cannot find where. Diagnostics on the switch (as described in haynes manual) show the switch is indeed bad. all circuits are open at all times. im at a standstill here but believe the fuel pump not being activated was the root of the problem however i cannot diagnose it further until the switch is fixed. any diagrams of the switch wiring? Im not afraid to do a toggle and push button setup but would rather have a factory switch reinstalled. Any input at all guys? Help!

[1988redfordfestiva]

my first guess when were the wires changed and plugs check coil for 12 volts ignition on then check disty cap and rotor button most common i've seen since i had to fix a festy with the same symptoms theres a chip under its a electronic points module they do go bad but the thing u need to is a pain and i know why they fail on people to u can touch this part with your hands u have to use cloth gloves and a solder gun i know its crazy i had 2 fail cause of this ..

static electricity ring a bell

if u want u can send it to me i'll test it and if the module is bad i'll replace it i do alot of work on cars and festy's are my pride and joy

[lessersivad]

Had the same basic problem. I got an ignition switch from a donor parts car and all is well. Being you have worked on the switch I'm sure you already know that you can replace just the switch and you don't have to change out the whole ignition switch/key assembly.

If you can't find a switch locally, I would suggest placing a "wanted to buy" ad. Make sure to use the correct posting codes. I.E., read the sticky. Also may want to put where you're from. Someone close by may have what you're looking for.

Good luck and welcome.

[f-150_xl]

So 88festy, im confused. are you suggesting my switch problem could be caused by the distributor? what about the no fuel problem? i suppose i could see how it could all be traced back to the "hot source" which would use the switch to power everything up? correct?

[doylerl]

I know someone on here will post the pic. I don't have it handy. Under the hood, on the drivers side, behind the battery, there are three wires. They loop up and back down into a small black box. These wires go bad often, and should be replaced with the long legged fuses. Again, I don't have the picture, but I'm sure someone will post it. The fuses should go as follows: 30amp - 40amp - 30amp. That's the first thing I do when I get my festivas now. As far as the switch, post a [WTB] post in the correct forum, following the rules outlined in that forum, and I'm sure someone will have one for you.

[1988redfordfestiva]

i will post the pic in the pm after work i'm off to bed

[1988redfordfestiva]

well if u have 2 wires unplugged from the ignition i know the location of the two wires there next to the same one that go to the fuse box- main harness here are pics from my harness

[WmWatt]

Spray WD-40 into the ignition key hole.

[f-150_xl]

Ok guys im sorry i should've given more detail. The three fusible links under the hood or whatever theyre called have already been addressed so that is not the problem. secondly, ive had the electronic portion of the ignition switch out and cleaned the contacts - they are badly worn and are not allowing constant voltage. you have to peck on the backside (electronic portion) and/or jiggle the key around to get connection. Ive determined a new switch is needed. my question is, what would cause the no start and only intermittenly. until now of course - it wont even crank. when trying to start the car previous to the ignition switch failure the fuel pump wasnt working unless you jumpered it then the pump would run fine. could the ignition switch have been the culprit? obviously it commands the fuel pump on at some point. maybe the switch was my problem all along? ive got alot of money tied up in this $1000.00 car at this point and im beggining to see parts are neither cheap nor easy to find!

[f-150_xl]

Also, there are two wires (see pic) that appear to have been sodered to something at one point. Im not sure if i pulled them loose accidently or if they were just stuffed in there. does anyone recognize these wires or their purpose? they run out of a 4pin plug containing 4 wires, two of which are sodered to the top two terminals on the electronic portion of the ignition switch. the two loose wires are green, and red w/yellow stripe. They are shown with two yellow arrows in the picture.

[1988redfordfestiva]

would u like me to fix the wiring for you i have no problem doing the wires my dad put the relay on my system to stop it from over loading the wires when i start it thats why the relay is there plus i had an alarm hooked up to it before which i disconnected

[1988redfordfestiva]

and if u want i can help u figure out the problem i also have the main harness out of my car as well and that works

[f-150_xl]

would u like me to fix the wiring for you i have no problem doing the wires my dad put the relay on my system to stop it from over loading the wires when i start it thats why the relay is there plus i had an alarm hooked up to it before which i disconnected

Thanks a million but i finally found a donor car and gutted it to its evil little core (haha) i traced all the wiring and figured it all out! It was just the switch all along and the two wires i could not find a place for were for an automatic trans application!