Ignition Switch Won't Turn Over the Hemi

[kb67mopar]

Ok guys I am confused here and for those of you who have done this you may have some knowledge here.

With my stock ignition switch wired up to my hotwire harness it will engage the starter partially and not start the car. Now if i pull that wire off my switch and touch it to the same hot-wire going to the switch it will turn over and start no problem.

Logically at this point I though I had a bum switch so I went down to Oreilly's, spent $30 and got a brand new one...

Connected that switch and had the same results.

WTF is going on here? is there some sort of internal resistor built in here?

 

[5.7 hemi]

There is 2 wires, 1 for run start, and 1 for start, both of which need 12 volts, do you have it wired according to the instructions I sent ya?

 

[kb67mopar]

I'll have to dig out the paper you sent me but I used their website. but yes both have 12V. The starter just doesn't seem to get the full voltage through the switch.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Then you have something else wrong. The computer needs 12 volts at all times, key in or not, so you need to see where you got power from. The switch is just that, so look at your power wire, and use the instructions, lol!!!

 

[Detroit Man]

Look at the relay, alot of the crap made in India is junk,,, that's the problem with the one I got from NAPA!

 

[snakeoil24]

India? Can anything be made worse than China? Yes in India it is worse.

 

[kb67mopar]

Look at the relay, alot of the crap made in India is junk,,, that's the problem with the one I got from NAPA!

Definitely not the relay because the relay works when i touch the wires.

Anyway I ended up getting an answer to this question yesterday from Chris over at hotwireauto (good guys these folks).

Turns out the ignition switch was set up for two circuits one of which only runs 8 volts during cranking...basically the short answer is these switches won't run my starter properly even with some modification. So I have to install a start button. Which is ok, it prevents others from figuring out how to start my car.

Don't ask me to repeat his whole explanation about the switch, i got it when he was talking about it but could not re-explain it to save my life. Basically if you do this swap you will have to make sure your switch doesn't operate like my 67's

 

[5.7 hemi]

Change the switch if thats the case. To me, it doesn't make sense that 1 side of the switch is only 8 volts for cranking when the starter needs 12. Sounds/smells kinda fishy.

 

[kb67mopar]

Change the switch if thats the case. To me, it doesn't make sense that 1 side of the switch is only 8 volts for cranking when the starter needs 12. Sounds/smells kinda fishy.

Doesn't make a bunch of sense to me either but seems to be true because it definitely doesn't work right.

 

[conv67bdere]

Alright, I'm very new to this site - how you doing kb67mopar . . . good to see you again.

If you need (2) lines supplying 12 volts . . . and one line is 12 volts and the other is 8 volts . . .

Why not use a SPDT relay.
Let the 12 volts out supply the power to activate the relay.
Supply 12 volts in.
When the key is on, it activates both 12 volt lines, and feeds both sources.
Key off, both sources lose their 12 volts.

I've got a few relays in the garage, I'll check to see if I've got a SPDT and send it to you so we can see if this will make the key work.

You up to test it out for all of us kb67mopar ? ? ( I'll send the relay at no cost to you - since you're the guinea pig )

 

[kb67mopar]

Well you may be right, however... The power from my switch was being sent to my starter relay which then powered the starter solenoid and it would not fully engage the starter. My suspicion is it was not fully engaging the relay. I never spent a ton of time on this, after talking to Chris over at hotwire auto and he explained why you couldn't make it work (which I didn't completely grasp but an expert told me...) I just elected to add the push button switch. Which I found a nice one that has the look and feel of the rest of the switches. So I never fully dug into the true root cause. Anybody else with first hand knowledge is allowed to chime in here!