series 1 ignition key electical short

[chris1983rangie]

G'day all,

had a bit of a problem today with my key ignition switch, lately upon putting the key into the barell lock it wouldnt turn somtimes. The key is quite worn and i used my thumb and pressed over the key hole then turned it clockwise and i managed to turn the ignition on, then i couldnt get it to turn back and had a fright as little smoke started to come out through the key hole.

I guess i shouldnt have done that so i had disconnected the batt quickly then i got the key back into the key hole and managed to get it back to the off position, i put the batt cable back on put the key back in the lock and it turned ok ign on and start the landy no smoke.

I am planning to replace the entire ignition key lock switch. has anyone ever had an electrical short with their ignition key barell lock? it wasnt a substantial ammount of smoke just a tiny bit but still scared the hell outa me! need advice thanks.

Chris

[wrinklearthur]

Hi Chris

If you find that the Ignition switch hasn't shorted internally to earth, I would pay particular attention to your earth strap between the motor and chassis.
Anyway, its a good practice to dismantle the two connections occasionally and give the two ends of the strap and the mounting surfaces, the mother of all cleanups, bolt it all back together securely and paint over it.
Do not paint the inside faces of those connections!

All of this points to a incorrect earth path, probably the current is going back through the choke cable.

Cheers Arthur

[JDNSW]

The smoke probably represents a bad connection rather than a short (although it could be).

It is a long time since I owned one of these, but from memory the switches are quite easy to disassemble. The back of the switch, with the fixed contacts and connections is held on by small parts of the metal body bent inwards. Straightening these enables the switch to come apart, so that you can see exactly what is wrong, and possibly correct it.

Before starting, mark the body and back so that you know how it goes back together, and note very carefully at each stage exactly how it goes together, marking bits as necessary. Take care, as the moving contacts are spring loaded.

The problems with the actual switch may be limited to worn or dirty contacts and lack of lubrication, but wear of the bakelite track between positions and consequent poor indexing may be a problem. It may be possible to fix this (at least temporarily) by carefully filing the back thinner. Unfortunately, there is little you can do to fix a worn lock cylinder except to replace it, although a new key ordered by number from a good locksmith (not a key cutter!) may help.

John

[chazza]

Good advice from Arthur!

I like to bare-metal the two faces and then coat them with vaseline to prevent corrosion,

Cheers Charlie

[chris1983rangie]

Just a note, i don't recall seeing an earth strap from the engine to chassi, also my series 1 has the Holden 186 in it. There is the neg battery cable that goes from the eng block to neg on battery terminal. On my series 2a 109 with the 2.25 motor i noticed theres a flat braided strap bolted to the engine mount and then goes to the chassi. So i can do this same thing to my series 1?

cheers,

Chris

[JDNSW]

Yes. Any substantial wire from anywhere on the engine/gearbox to anywhere on the chassis will work. It is probably worthwhile on an older vehicle to ensure connection of the major body panels to earth to run wires from the bulkhead, the rear tub and the radiator support to chassis or engine/gearbox.

All connections should be onto clean bare metal, and secured with a fine thread bolt if possible (do not use self tappers), and a shakeproof or spring washer. Copper tags should preferably be tinned. A smear of vaseline will help exclude water, or the connection can be painted after it is tightened.

John

[Lotz-A-Landies]

The original engine ground came from a braided round strap between the chassis and the gearbox. The main ground was a strap from the +ve (or later -ve) battery terminal to the chassis on the battery support bracket below the battery. This worked fine when everything was new but was temperamental when corrosion got between the terminals. It was worse still when someone chopped the gearbox ground when they removed the gearbox for maintenance.

Ideally the main ground should be as direct and as close as possible to the starter motor.

Personally I like the system where the battery ground drops down to the original ground location where a "P" terminal is crimped or soldered to a bared area of the main ground lead and that bolted to freshly cleaned bare metal of the chassis bracket. The main ground then continues across to the engine block or gearbox bellhousing. This way the same continuous cable is performing both the engine ground, chassis ground and appropriate battery terminal.

[chris1983rangie]

Thanks everyone your help and advice, im very much appreciated.

cheers,

Chris