breakdown ??? ignition switch

[81SPIDERMATT]

driving along and car acted like it was running out of fuel .... died and would not start... turned over ... I carry a spare plug so pulled a wire and had spark ... I run a filter before the pump (I know ) it is a high flow that allows me to monitor what is coming out of the tank.... it seems to be dirty... car sits for 2 days at a generous strangers parking spot couple miles from the house... 6 inches of snow and 9pm at night I finally get time to go work on it... again I have spark ... replace filter before pump and no go ... not seeing any gas in the filter before pump after trying several times to start ..thinking bad fuel pump as it is not pulling any gas from tank... trying to remember if I read any thing about having to prime pump ... cold and frustration make me give up.... ... roomates AAA to the rescue and now the car is home.... this morning I go out and starts right up... throw a pressure gauge and great pressure .. good spark ... fuel in the filter ... I proceed to wiggle and jiggle almost every wire on that car ..running like a top.... the only thing that is different now is all of a sudden it seems like I have the wrong key to the ignition jiggle wheel jiggle key it does not want to turn ... have to play with a combination of turning and pushing in and out and it will find a spot that key turns smoothly and car starts .... so I have read lots this morning about ignition switch ... and see a lot of threads about PO hot wiring switch for fuel pump to turn on right away .... mine did not have that .... would a failing ignition switch give the illusion of fuel starvation?? ..or affect signal to pump to turn on??.. garage is like a man cave and will be watching superbowl in garage ... I will be testing everything I can think of (brads tune up procedure) ..maybe something will pop up ..... hoping someone reading this may have an idea based on my story.... I have gone thru the breakdown and what could it be game before ... it is not fun... having to break down to isolate problem saps my soul ......

[cos]

when i first got my spider (15 years ago) yes my faulty ignition switch was responsible for those symptoms as you described. It took me a long time getting to the bottom of it. Eventually because the ignition light will fliker i decided to replace the switch and problem went away. Not saying 100% that's your problem but check it out!

[baltobernie]

The next time the car "acts like it's running out of fuel", look at the tach. An intermittent ignition switch will cause the tach to go to zero during these episodes. Try wriggling the ignition during these attacks as well (careful you don't rotate all the way to Off and possibly lock the steering column while driving ).

[81SPIDERMATT]

ok ... I will watch the tach if it happens again.... thanks for the responses... took the car for a spin to get some contact cleaner and liquid graphite .... key is slicker than snot and car seems to be fine... found an early garage sale and picked up a vise for the work bench for 10 bucks ...that is a deal if you ever shop for a vise ... they are not as cheap as one would think .... gonna call it a day .... but now in the back of my mind a little mistrust is building about the reliability of the car... I hate that ... will feel better when I go thru do some more testing and hopefully figure out what went wrong ...gonna pull and do the rebuild procedure for ignition switch just because ... also have greatly increased tools and in the trunk .... fingers crossed that I run across something or that little nag will stick with me

[2ndwind]

I had very intermittent non-running issues with my car until they became more and more frequent. Pushing up on the wires under the dash behind the ignition switch would work sometimes. Finally there was no-start, no-go. A used ignition switch has cured the problem. Starts every time for the past year and a half. I have driven it at least once a month (if not 20 times/mo in good weather) but it doesn't look like that will happen this January!

[81SPIDERMATT]

well mine is my daily driver .... so anything wrong will present itself quickly .... getting to know "my spider" quite well ... spider senses tell me failing switch .... or power to the fuel pump being interrupted somehow.... as stated because of how much I drive it ... we will know soon ... I hope

have hooked up a volt meter to pump and will keep an eye on it if car fails again and as stated before will watch tach closely

is it worth trying to go thru the switch as some have done or should I save up for a new one ... or both ..???

[GeorgeT]

When, and if, you replace the ignition switch, also install high and low beam relays for the headlights. As designed from Fiat, all current for the lights passes through the ignition switch which often results in premature failure. As an added bonus your lights will be brighter.

[81SPIDERMATT]

I have added some kit I bought for "headlight conversion" I think it was called .... but it did not have wiring that went to ignition switch .... plugged into wiring under hood and ran to alternator I think .... with that should something have been disconnected at ignition switch??? it sure made the headlights a lot brighter .... and this time I did a better job with the volt meter to gas pump... last time wiring came loose and snatched meter right out of the car when wiring got run over by the tire... was actually kinda funny

[aj81spider]

Headlight relays shouldn't require changes at the ignition switch. I did it the same way you did (with the IAP kit) - wired to the alternator for power and used the existing headlight wires to drive the relays.

The kit just takes current off the switch and improves the life of the switch.

Apart from the headlights, you can put all the switch current on relays (I have a post on doing that). That takes practically all the current off the switch and (if you don't already have a bad switch) will insure that you don't burn it out in the future.

[perthling]

i had similar issues also traced to the ignition switch. Car would run fine then just cut out. If it's fuel related the car will cough and splutter before dying. If electrical it will just cut out. It's not a big deal to change the ignition switch and i think replacements are available for less than $80.

[2ndwind]

My understanding from reading this forum when mine failed, is that the NEW switches are of rather poor quality. I bought 2 used ones and let my mechanic (who can rewire a spider in no time) choose the better of the two.