Bad ignition switch? Fix it!

[DucatiCraig]

The ignition switch on my car was going bad. The symptoms were that in the on position, the dash lights weren't on, but in the crank position, they were. Also, I could turn the key back from the on position slightly and they would come on, so it seemed like it was the ignition switch.

The switch is only about $80, but I thought what the heck, I'll see if I can fix it.

What an easy fix!

The switch comes out after 4 screws - 2 to take the lower dash piece off, and 2 on the back of the switch itself. Then, unplug it and it's out.

If ever there were an electrical component that was meant to be cleaned and not thrown away, this is it.

It separates easily, and after you pop it in half, all the contacts are there waiting to be cleaned.

At first I thought a quick shot of contact cleaner would fix it, but upon further examination, my switch had some pitting where the contact sat in the on position, so I got the sandpaper out and carefully sanded the pits out.

Then, after I popped it together, it worked great. $80 saved.

Just be careful not to drop the plastic half while you're working on it or you'll be crawling around looking for springs and detent balls - ask me how I know...

I attached a pic of the switch after I opened it up, you can see the contacts are right there. Sorry, it's pretty blurry.

- Craig

 

[Bram]

I did the same fix on my daughter's Civic, yes easy fix. Thanks for doing the write up, I was planning to do a write-up on this fix.

Pictures will help others.

Bram

 

[ftuhy]

One tip for cleaning only slightly dirty or worn electrical contacts - use a pencil eraser. This is especially useful on plated contacts where sandpaper might remove too much material. In certain cases it even works to clean off oxidation before soldering.

On the other hand, with deep pitting, sandpaper, a fine Dremel tool bit, or a fine file may be the only solution. Just remember to try to maintain the original shape & angle of the contact face.

 

[grybrd]

I might be dating myself but in the olden days we had something called a point file to clean up pitted points in an ignition item called a "distributor".
Sounds perfect for the job...and I still have one :biggrin:

 

[DucatiCraig]

Oops, I don't think the pic attached last time.

I did my best to maintain the contact face orientation with my hand sanding, but one other good thing is that the moving contact is spring loaded, and will do a pretty good job of compensating for an imperfect contact face.


Point file?? I think mine is sitting next to my dwell meter and float gauge, in the drawer over my spanners.

- C

 

[drew]

I also have a good pic here:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showpost.php?p=436339&postcount=5

 

[DucatiCraig]

Drew -

Your switch looks remarkably like mine, which I thought was just really dirty too. It has the same black spot on the most worn contact face (at about the 4 o'clock position in your picture - the "Ignition On" contact).

When initially cleaned mine, it didn't work, as the location of the black spot was actually a pit in the face, probably due to some arcing.

I wonder if they all fail like this? Over time, the plating wears off in this spot, some dirt leads to some arcing and the pit ultimately prevents the movable contact from making connection with the fixed, pitted one.


Thanks for the better pic!


- Craig

 

[ftuhy]

Olden days?? You mean my point file, dwell meter, float gage, etc can't be used on my NSX? I suppose if I threw them out, I'd have more room in my toolchest. But, that could lead to separation anxiety. Besides, as grybrd noted, the point file would be great for this problem. I'm sure someone will discover an alternate use for the dwell meter if I wait long enough.:biggrin:

In a posting in another area of Prime, someone asked if any new information could be posted, or is Prime now relegated to just repeats of the obvious. Well, with the NSX no longer in production and as our cars age, Prime will be the only place to get helpful repair hints -- such as this one on repairing the ignition switch. That assures that this unique rare car will spend many more years in service while keeping repair/replacement costs under control.

Keep the posts coming!

 

[davidf]

Hmm, this sounds like a good preventative maintanance project for a rainy weekend.:wink:

 

[Bram]

Wow, this is the same as the Civic, same dirt too...

Good maintenance and repair tip.


Bram

 

[coffeeman59]

Having problems getting the dash piece off, unscrewed the lower screws but dont know whats holding the top of it on. Am I just to push up and it comes off? I did not want to brake any thing.

 

[jdwelsh3]

I'm having some trouble getting the 7-p connector out of the harness. Are there multiple clips holding the connector in place or do I just need to pull harder?

Jack

 

[I1O101I]

I'm having some trouble getting the 7-p connector out of the harness. Are there multiple clips holding the connector in place or do I just need to pull harder?

Jack

I just fix marc's (NSXWOLF) harness, bring your car by and I can take it out for u, im in vienna.

Bryan

 

[mrbythatmuch]

Just did mine, the switch had been replaced once before by the dealer around 50k miles. This time I did it myself. After cleaning of the contacts with contact cleaner I applied a generous amount of dielectric grease. This should help prevent arcing and the resulting carbon build up. It was the black build up which appeared to be the major contributor to the starting problems I was having.

 

[ftuhy]

I cleaned my ignition siwtch today as preventative maintenance.

Missing from the above posts: its easy to remove the two screws from the back of the switch if you are about 25 years old, 135 lbs and 5' 6" tall. Its painful if you are 66, 190lbs, 6' tall and have a torn rotator cuff. Ask me how I know.

One point from the manual is to insert the key (but don't turn it). Supposedly that's required to remove the switch assembly from the steering column after the 2 screws are removed. I didn't try removal without doing that, so I don't know if its absolutely necessary. In my car, the switch harness was taped to another harness with black tape on one end and white tape at the other end. I removed just the black tape, which let the harness swing down. It was so easy to separate and clean the switch halves in that position that I didn't bother to completely remove the white tape and take the switch out of the car and over to my work bench.

I found a CR-VP2R Phillips bit worked best on the ignition switch screws. My regular #2 Phillips screwdriver seemed to jump out of the screw head, but that may have been because I was having difficulty fitting myself under the dash to do this job.

The actual cleaning took less than 5 minutes. I removed the old gunk with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) and cotton swabs, touched up any rough spots with a ignition point file, and then lubricated it with a cleaner/lubricant for electronic controls.

The switch is definitely smoother operating now. I've attached some pictures for the curious. The 7-pole ignition switch connector is the large brown one in the photos.

Repeating what others said, with only 4 screws to remove its a quick easy job. But, you need to be a contortionist!

 

[HUYTURBO]

good thread.

new switch part#

35130-SL0-A01

list 42 bucks

 

[shawn110975]

to test if mine was bad I took one out of my 1993 accord and it worked, So i knew the NSX ignition was bad, but before i got the new one from the dealership I did take it apart, yes easy as pie, but after cleaning the connections it still did not work, and on the pigtail there was burn marks, I dont know what could have caused that but water under the bridge.

 

[ftuhy]

Burn marks on wire are often the result of a poor connection. The current flow through the poor connection generates heat, which then burns the portion of wire adjacent to that bad connection.

With that mutch heat generated, the contacts were most likely beyond repair. You did the right thing buying the new switch.

 

[HUYTURBO]

you took it out of a 1993 accord? the ignition switch is the same for all hondas?

 

[Nukem]

you took it out of a 1993 accord? the ignition switch is the same for all hondas?

Good question???

 

[shawn110975]

yes I the switch out of most honda's will work,

the problem is that the length of the honda accord ign switch was like 3 feet long LOL and the NSX is like less than 10 inches.

 

[HUYTURBO]

i did also try to clean it originally then a few months later it went bad again. it becomes pitted, like a pothole, theres no way to really fix it. i went with a new oem switch, 50 bucks. its not that much money to really try to fix it, then a few months later having to have to take everything apart again.

 

[shawn110975]

yeah if you clean it and dont put that dioelectric grease back in the case it will pit the metal. that grease stops the metal from burning up like a light bulb LOL.

 

[HUYTURBO]

oh.... oh well to late now.

 

[OyATL]

The ignition switch on my car was going bad. The symptoms were that in the on position, the dash lights weren't on, but in the crank position, they were. Also, I could turn the key back from the on position slightly and they would come on, so it seemed like it was the ignition switch.

I ran into this exact same problem today. I'm gonna clean the ignition switch this weekend.