Electrical Ignition start acting as ignition on

sav22rem22

Active Member
Feb 6, 2020
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North Carolina
So I posted this in my progress thread but I feel like it might be better suited here since it doesn’t have much to do with my progress thread. I just put my 89 GT interior almost all the way back together after having the dash out. I got everything back in and everything crucial to run the car hooked back up.

I put the steering column back in today and when I turn the ignition to on nothing happens. When I turn it to crank then the fuel pump primes and does everything that it would normally do in the on position. The ignition switch and harness is new and worked perfectly fine before taking it all apart. The car won’t crank because the crank in the ignition is acting as the ignition on.

I made sure the grounds by the ecu itself and the grounds by the shock tower got hooked back up, I hooked up everything in the engine bay and everything by both the passenger and driver kick panels back up. The only thing I don’t have hooked up is the cluster. I’ve verified the battery isn’t dead by jumping the solenoid terminals and the car cranks over Just fine. Anyone know what could be causing the ignition on to trigger when in the crank position? Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
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Did you have the key switch out of the column?
May be the switch is not moving the rod all the way to the start position.
I didn’t have it out I just pulled the whole steering column out and the only time I even engaged any of it was when I was putting it back in and put the key in so I could rotate the steering wheel freely. What would cause it not to move it all the way?
 
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This is the location of the pin and the ignition switch slider when the key is in the on position
 
There is a rod that connects the key switch to the ignition switch, you may have dislocated it from its proper spot on the ignition switch down on the column, pull the switch off the column and take a screwdriver and move the switch mechanism
I actually posted this earlier but I guess I didn't hit the button hard enough.
 
There is a rod that connects the key switch to the ignition switch, you may have dislocated it from its proper spot on the ignition switch down on the column, pull the switch off the column and take a screwdriver and move the switch mechanism
I actually posted this earlier but I guess I didn't hit the button hard enough.
I pulled the ignition switch off again and the rod won’t move unless I put the key in and turn it past the steering wheel lock then i can move it freely and the key turns with it. The little rod thing lines up with the insert on the ignition switch. I just did some probably not so correct testing and took the ignition switch off and with it still hooked up used a screwdriver to push it all the way forward and I’m able to get it to prime but even with the clutch in and pushed as far forward as I physically can I have no crank.

Also, is the switch tumbler supposed to turn backwards from the off position? I do know I did that before putting it back in the car. Didn’t mean to do it but i don’t know what it does exactly or if it’s supposed to do it.
 
Turning the key switch counterclockwise is the ACC (accessory) mode,
Oh so that’s what that is. So that didn’t damage anything. It’s looking like it’s the ignition switch unfortunately. I still want to make sure it’s not the clutch switch before I buy another one but it’s seeming like it is unfortunately. I kept the steering column in the hatch for the 7 months it was apart I’m wondering if the concentrated heat messed it up or something.
 
Okay so I did some more testing and I unhooked the starter connector that goes into the clutch safety switch and jumped it then I cranked the car and it actually cranked. It also started for a second but the car is slap out of gas so it died a few seconds later . Still however it will not prime with the key in the on position and primes right before cranking happens. I also tried the method general karthief suggested by taking out the ignition cylinder while in the on position and then turning it with a screwdriver but for some reason I couldn’t get it to budge.

So my question now is that if I have a bad clutch switch, then why is it still not doing its first prime in the on position? I’m kinda at a loss. I’ll fill it up with gas tomorrow and put the cluster in so the alternator charges and I’ll see what it does but if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I’ll be able to get out and check stuff
 
Put it all back together.
stop jumping around assuming it's something else, one thing at a time.
From the video it appears that the key switch is out of place.
with the key in the 'on' position the dash lights and volt gauge should come alive, yes the fuel pump should prime. Does this happen?
Is that some kind of kill switch you found?
 
Put it all back together.
stop jumping around assuming it's something else, one thing at a time.
From the video it appears that the key switch is out of place.
with the key in the 'on' position the dash lights and volt gauge should come alive, yes the fuel pump should prime. Does this happen?
Is that some kind of kill switch you found?
I planned on putting the cluster in tomorrow to see if the gauges come alive. It does seem to be some sort of kill switch that someone had in that bypasses the clutch switch. I just hooked it up for testing. It has some sort of fuse that easily pulls out and then kills the ability to start it.

I’ll put the cluster in tomorrow and update then
 
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Put it all back together.
stop jumping around assuming it's something else, one thing at a time.
From the video it appears that the key switch is out of place.
with the key in the 'on' position the dash lights and volt gauge should come alive, yes the fuel pump should prime. Does this happen?
Is that some kind of kill switch you found?
So I put the cluster back on and in the key on position nothing lights up except the dummy lights on the bottom right of the cluster. Once I turn it just past the on position, the same point where the pump primes, the cluster comes to life and acts just as if the key is on. I put gas in the car and I can get it to run if I hold the key in that sweet spot.

So you’re right. I pulled the key tumbler and for the life of me can not get the rod to move with a flat head. I’m just wondering how it would’ve gotten misaligned considering none of the ignition components have been tampered with at all since I installed the new ignition switch which worked fine. I also did another test and unscrewed the ignition switch and dropped it off the column and pushed the plastic slider with a screwdriver and it has several distinct clicks in it for ACC, off, ignition on, and when pushed all the way, crank. The pump will only prime and the cluster will only fully light up in between the ignition on click and the crank click. The switch is also starting to separate which is just wonderful.
 
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There's the problem, find a quality replacement, most stuff you'll find is chinee crap, names like Ecklin (do the make that brand anymore?) and Standard where the one's to get but anymore IDK.
I’ve had good luck with standard so I’ll try that out. Hopefully I’ll have better luck this time. I also figured out that the clutch switch wasn’t bad I just neglected to reset the self adjuster when I swapped the clutch pedal and the pedal rack. I appreciate the help
 
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Okay so new ignition switch is in and even though the old one fully separated, it wasn’t the issue. I also took the snap ring and retainer plate out of the tumbler housing and pulled the whole rod out to check for damage and all is in good shape. I’m at a complete loss. The spring, pawl, gear, and guide rod are all in tact and even though the spring isn’t the springiest anymore it still holds the pawl in place. The gear was also not misaligned or out of place.

Once I took the retainer plate out of place I was able to use a flat blade to turn it and it exhibited the exact same behavior. All the key on functions only happen in between the on click and the run click and will only stay running if I hold it in the on sweet spot. If I let go of the screw driver it just springs back and shuts off the car.

I don’t know if I hooked something up wrong on the solenoid which I’m not even sure is possible unless the eyelets of the wires all have to be in a certain order. I’m just not sure what could be the issue and I’m at my wits end. Absolutely nothing has changed or been added since the car was taken apart. It was running and working just fine when taken apart.

Here’s a video of what’s happening now

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/vidml-qxdCU?feature=share
 
Also here’s a video of how the rod slides really loosely I’m not sure if it’s supposed to slide that loose or what.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/uCHOqksggtU?feature=share

The only possible thing I can think of is that when I was pulling the steering column like 8 months ago it got hung up on the pedal rack and when I yanked it free the ignition housing area slammed against the dash. I’m not sure if something broke inside of there or what or even how to tell
 
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