The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Ignition switch issue

I had some trouble starting the truck this morning that I have attributed to the ignition switch (I noticed the fuel gauge was not reading, so I went to off then back on, had fuel showing, and then it started right up). I removed the switch so I could see about taking it apart so as to clean the contactors inside, but the tabs that hold the connector in are pretty thick and I was unable to bend them out with a screwdriver. I did not try too hard as I felt that I would break the plastic before I could bend the metal. Any one do this before and have any suggestions for opening it up for cleaning? I did some quick looking for a new switch, and the 2 places I looked did not have one for my model so I don’t want to break something that I cannot replace. I drive the truck a couple of times a week on average, and have had no issues with this before today.

Thanks, Lee.

They aren't easy to get apart Lee, but you can do it with some small vise grips and persistence...usually. The problem today is yesterday's ignition switches were rated for about 10 amps and if you have HEI, electric wipers, electric fan, etc, etc, you'll burn that switch out tout de suite. If you don't have any of this stuff, then your switch just wore out and you need a new one. If you do, please get some Bosch type relays and start separating high amp devices out and onto relay circuits because 20 amps is about the max for an ignition switch of this type. I've been using one I bought from Amazon (which is an exact copy of one produced 40 or so years ago by Standard Parts and sold under Delco-Remy, Sears, Wards, NAPA and many other names. Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FDXKNRY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck. This one fits well into the 1952.

Alternatively, remove the old switch, pour naphtha in it and work off/on/start with the key. That will clean the contacts a bit and may help...or may not.

I had trouble finding a switch for my '65 C20. I ended up taking the switch to the store, they have the old books, and we searched until we found a match. Someone at some point, or maybe it came factory like this because of the factory air, but the switch had extra pins. When we found the match, I bought an extra.

Thanks Jon, I’ll try the vise grips and see what I can do. I don’t have HEI or electric wipers or a radio, but I do have the heater fan that runs through the switch. A relay on that load would be easy to put in. Right now the switch is still working, I am just wanting to make a plan for when it starts to really give me trouble.

Lee.

The heater fan won't draw enough amperage to give you any trouble, Lee but you're to the point in Texas you won't need it anyway. Even night temps out in Alpine and Ft. Davis are in the mid 60s now. But those wear out just the same way your headlight switch wears out and if you look in this same section, you'll see where I wrote a tutorial about repairing the headlight switch.

I did see it Jon. I closed the valves on my heater hoses a month ago.