harveyf

So I've been sorting my way through my 1984 street/track car to bring it up to a good standard of reliability. Part of this means reviewing all the wiring hacks that have occurred in its life. For instance, when someone thought they needed a source of switched 12V power, why not just splice some wires into the harness leading from the ignition switch? Crap like that! So I was doing some signal tracing with my meter and found a relatively high resistance through the ignition switch for the Accessory circuit, which does things like power the radio when the car is turned off. Never being one to shy away from fiddly electrical bits, I decided to remove and clean the electrical switch that resides as part of the ignition key/lock assembly. The dash and all the associated plastic pieces are already out but if you were starting from scratch your would remove the steering wheel and the plastic covers around the turn signal stalk to reveal the ignition key. A harness plugs into the back side. Unplug it. There is a single allen head bolt that clamps on the ignition assembly. After the bolt is removed the assembly will grudgingly slide off the steering shaft. Its a tight fit so expect some resistance. Carrying the assembly over to the bench, the electrical part is a white plastic assembly that is held in place with a single Phillips head screw. Remove the screw and the assembly comes right out.

At this point, I still had nothing that could be cleaned so I decided to spring the halves of the assembly apart. Two clips yield to prying from small screwdrivers and the 2 halves came apart.

I should have stopped right there, sprayed on contact cleaner, and put it back together, but it was pretty grungy so I did a little more dis-assembly. Before I knew it I had a pile of small parts and realized I had just lost control of the situation. Snap!




Fortunately a quick trip to Ebay revealed that this part of a common item from the VW parts bin and available new for about $20. Whew! Not a terribly expensive lesson.

So if you think your ignition switch is behaving oddly from an electrical standpoint, this may be the cheapest electrical item on the car to replace with new! And relatively easy to get to.

Also, I never cease to be amazed at how automation and high volume production can drive the price of something that is really rather intricate down to a very reasonable cost. It would be fascinating to see how this switch gets assembled on an assembly line, with all its little springs and fiddly bits.

V2Rocket

$20? yikes...
like $5 on Pelican.

harveyf

True. And also $6.75 and also $13.75 and also $53.00. To each his own but I try and stay away from the absolutely lowest price items. Pretty hard to prove or dis-prove, just my policy.

V2Rocket

either way...$20 or whatever is a cheap fix for the multitude of problems this little switch can cause `

harveyf

Exactly!