Here's a Strange One...

[MickeyR]

Don't know if my ignition switch is going out on me, or what...

Took a drive today, and made a stop. Got back in the car, and inserted the key in the ignition. Turned it to "On", and the starter engaged. Without turning to the spring-loaded position normally required. Shut it down, and tried again - same thing. The car did start, and the starter disengaged (thankfully!), and I drove home without any problem. When I put the car in the garage, I shut it off and tried the starter again. Same thing. Stopped the engine, and pulled the key out, then tried once again, and this time it was as it should be - wouldn't engage the starter until turned all the way to the spring-loaded position.

What think all of you - switch going out on me?

Thanks,
Mickey

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Little brass plates in switch are wearing. You <i>can</i> take it apart and try to fix it. It is a pain!!

Also, be very careful of the tiny screws that hold the switch in the housing. If you screw them in too far, the switch will turn on, but not turn to start as those little screws will engage the plastic disk and keep it from turning all the way. Take out the screws and it turns fine. So don't crank down on them too hard!!!

[url="http://www.victoriabritish.com/ICATALOG/TR/full.aspx?Page=113"]Link: Bottom right corner. $50 US[/url]

jclay

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[MickeyR]

Well, for those who are interested:

After investigating, and with some help from the TR8 List, I discovered that two of the wires on the oil pressure sending unit were reversed, with the potential intermittent result of energizing the starter solenoid when the white wire circuit was hot!

Never would have found THAT one! Funny thing is that it has worked fine this way for months, and only reared its ugly head yesterday.

Mickey

[PeterTR7V8]

Well done Mickey. You get to wear the pointy hat of outside-the-square thinking for a whole month.

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[MickeyR]

Well, the pointy hat does fit my pointy head! [;)]

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Ah! That white/orange goes to ground when the oil pressure goes up allowing the fuel pump to run when there is pressure.

Reversing the wires would send power back through the Red/Orange wire and engage the starter.

jclay

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[MickeyR]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Reversing the wires would send power back through the Red/Orange wire and engage the starter.

jclay

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

<font size="2"> Yep - that's why I said it was strange that it only happened Saturday, after months of being wired that way...

...unless someone sneaked in and reversed the wires on me! [:D] </font id="size2">

[MickeyR]

It occurred to me that someone else in the forum might need the info, so here's the correct wiring of the switch:

If you look at the plug from the terminal end, you'll notice a space in the arrangement of the terminals. Assuming the space is on the left, and continuing clockwise to the top terminal, the first terminal, will be the white/brown wire from your fuel pump, via the inertia switch. The second terminal, to the right of #1, will be the white/orange wire from the starter, the third wire, on the bottom, will be the white wire from the ignition.

Best,
Mickey