The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Turn-start ignition switch with a stomp starter?

I had to replace my ignition switch when I rewired my truck and I thought I was getting one like my original, but its for a starter with a solenoid and I have a stomp starter. Do ya'll think this would cause a problem like a parasitic drain or anything else?

Does the switch you have now look just like your original but it has a little terminal on the side of it as well as the large bat. terminal on top?

Ken

I'm don't remember right off. It has a few more terminals on the back then my original and more key positions.

no problem as long as you hook the wires to the right places, the off and on positions will be the same, the start and accessory positions won't do anything - use an ohmmeter to check against the wiring diagram in the manual

Bill

Ok Ill give that a try Red thanks!

The switch you bought is for a V8. It's the only one being reproduced apparently. After I got one for my '59, I called the vendor and the guy I talked to claimed they were all the same. I asked him why they would show two different switches on the wiring diagram if it were the same. He had no answer.

I sent it back, drilled the key cylinder out of my old one and installed a new cylinder.

The problem with my old one is that it stopped working. I used my multi-meter and set it for continuity and the switch had none in the run position.

Something else comes to mind. Lately I have been disconnecting the - battery cable at the end of every day of driving so the battery won't run down. Every time I connect/disconnect the battery the Voltage regulator makes a clicking sound. Would this indicate I have a drain somewhere or is my regulator not adjusted properly?

the click itself may not indicate any problem, but if there's a spark when you first touch the cable to the batt post, you do have something wrong, indicating a drain will be happening - could be your broken ignition switch?

Bill

There is a spark, I do have an after market radio that requires a battery source for memory, but would this cause a drain this bad? I mean if I don't drive it daily it will be dead after a day of not driving.

Red- I have a V8 ignition switch in there that is intact, it's my old L6 switch that is broken.

I've had the cutout relay stick closed in some voltage regulators in the past which would cause the battery to discharge through the generator when the key was turned off. Disconnecting the battery would cause the relay to *click* back open, and it was good until the engine was started and cut back off - stuck closed again. Likely a bad regulator.

The radio memory would not drain it overnight or even in a week. Sounds like you have something else drawing power off the battery
Cleon

I agree about the radio, should takes weeks to have an effect - time to start disconnecting circuits one at a time until you don't get that spark - could be the reg/gen circuit, try giving the reg a good rap with a screwdriver handle see if it stops the behavior

Bill

Here's another thought you can use to determine a draw on the battery, good for those small draws that don't create a spark when you touch the cable to the post.
Put a volt meter between the cable end and the battery post. If there is a draw the meter will move, even if it is small, course if it's a big draw the meter will really move.
Just remember those old wind up clocks in the 60's ask for power once and awhile to wind the spring and would indicate a draw at that moment.
Dan

I'll start pulling circuits and see what I find, I appreciate the help everyone. I'm not the brightest bulb when it comes to diagnosing electrical stuff. Thanks Again!

Ok got home and I started pulling fuses and checking it by touching th neg. battery cable to the neg. post. Every time it still had a spark, even after I pulled all the fuses and the turn signal thingies. This tells me that the drain is somewhere before the fuse block? Would my assumption be correct?

Probably...
Start at the bat. and work out. If you have a multimeter (if not you need one) use it like Dan said and you should be able to locate the drain.

Back to the ignition switch.
I had one for an AD truck that was making poor connections, so I very carefully bent the tabs apart on the back and disassembled it, cleaned the contacts, reassembled.
All better now.

Grigg