I've found that adding a starter relay when an ignition switch is failing can help, but not always. Diagnosing the switch is not difficult. If you turn the switch and the engine is not cranking, then get a jumper wire and apply some volts directly to the starter solenoid. If it starts cranking, then the switch is the problem. I recommend using a heavy duty starter relay. The three pronged relays from the 70's Chryslers work pretty well. Mount the relay on the firewall above the starter. You need to ground the relay, and run a heavy power lead from the supply side of the starter to the power side of the relay. Then, remove the switched ignition lead from the starter solenoid, and connect it to the switched input of the relay. Finally, run a new wire from the switched output of the relay to where the switched ignition lead used to connect to the starter solenoid. It's pretty simple. hth, bs
________________________________ From: Ben Ament <[email protected]> To: 'John Palumbo' <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 5:55 AM Subject: RE: [alfa] 1975 Spider ignition switch Thanks, John - Personally, being a cheap Alfa owner, I use walnuts in my pesto, though I have occasionally substituted almonds to good effect. Your thinking on pesto and things electrical are both in line with my thoughts. I also know that many have installed relays in the ignition circuit to lessen the power going through the switch. Does anyone in Alfisti land have a link to a wiring diagram for such an installation? Ben -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Palumbo Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 7:10 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [alfa] 1975 Spider ignition switch Hi and goodmorning (buongiorno or buon giorno in Italian), Interesting problem to respond to on a sleepy Sunday morning, moreover being the European show day at the New Hope car show in New Hope, PA. What a neat show every year! Got to see my first Ferrari GTO ever in person there. I know Michelle Alboreto would be proud. Got to see his F1 race car that he won the World Championship in back in '88. Nothing quite like standing next to a car like that! As for the spider problem, it reminds me of the problem we have with making good home-made pesto sauce. I was listening to NPR the other day and Julia della Croce was on explaining that in real pesto sauce they call for pine nuts. But pine nuts are so expensive right now, something like $60 a pound, that she said to ease the cost of making this wonderfull summer-time sauce when basil is in season, substitue the pine nuts for pistachio nuts, which are like $10 a pound instead, or use no nuts at all! http://www.amazon.com/Julia-della-Croce/e/B001KIM95K I am personally partial to Lidia Bastianch however and she substitutes her's with almond nuts but also has a recipe with pistachio. http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/1074 So how to fix the spider? Well what I think it may be, the contacts in the the ignition switch are bad, burnt, or corroded. I don't think squeezeing pesto in the key hole will work, but try spraying some WD-40 in and around the key hole. You may have to let it soak for a while and work the key, off and on, wiggling it around until you get a connection. Also try spraying WD-40 (into) the multi-stranded main ground wire from the starter where it attaches to the fire wall, I believe. Even the littlest oxidation around the individual strands will make the starter inoperable. I don't think the ignition switch can be taken apart to get to the contacts unlike my Honda Civic. I never saw something so simple as on my Honda. All made of plastic with some philips screws holding it together. The only thing metal in there were the contacts, which I cleaned with a dremmel tool and some Vaseline. I said to myself, some Japanese people must have reverse-engineered an Alfa! I know for a fact thats what they did. So just like making a fine pesto sauce, a little creativity goes a long way. It helps saves money as well. I wish we could find a way to make money through all of this ingenuity though. Like for every mile you drive down the road, a dollar bill pops-out of the dash or something. That would be cool! Good luck and have a nice day. T-Mobile, America's First Nationwide 4G Network Sent by Samsung Mobile Ben Ament <[email protected]> wrote: >Went to start the Spider this morning and it did not start. At first, >cranking was normal. Then it appeared that the battery was down, so I >charged it to 100%. Turned on ignition and found that there was no juice. >Shut off switch. Turned back on and the usual light show and fuel pump >noises ensued. Turned key fully to crank and everything died. Shut off >to try again - same thing. Now the sound and light show only occur >intermittently. Wiggled and cleaned all connections (including fuses) >to no avail. If I leave the switch in the on position, connection may >be made after a bit of a wait (or it may not). Quick suggestions anyone? > > > >Ben >-- >to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi >or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected] -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected] -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected] -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
