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Old 12-16-2019, 06:30 PM
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Daubert20 Daubert20 is offline
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Default 61 Ignition Switch Issue?

We have an intermittent issue with my Pop's 61 Cat. Sometimes when shutting the car off the starter engages for a split second. Put another ignition switch in which improved things but it still happens from time to time. Only one wire going to the solenoid so I'm thinking it has to be a problem with our original ignition switch(es).

It plays hell with the starter and ring gear. Much better with our spare switch but it does concern us that it hasn't gone away and we are not looking to replace the flywheel ring gear again!

I'm guessing we could take a switch apart and rebuild it and give that a try. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Old 12-16-2019, 11:42 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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You may have already done this, but carefully inspect the harness side of the ignition switch and the connectors and terminals. You replaced the switch and it's better but not fixed. That sort of tells me 2 wires in the ignition switch bundle may be touching every now and then. Worth a look. Make sure you have good terminal tension between the spades and the female terminals. They can open up over 50+ years from heat. Report back please.

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Old 12-17-2019, 09:50 AM
389 389 is offline
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I put a push button in and ran it straight to the starter. I mounted the button on the far left side of the dash so I could bump the starter if needed when working on the motor..

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Old 12-17-2019, 09:15 PM
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Thanks for the tip! We will check it out and report back.

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Old 03-21-2021, 07:48 PM
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We continued to struggle with this issue... Finally today, I did what mgarblik recommended. I figured that would tell me if the ignition switches were bad or if the wiring/circuit was bad. Well it worked and after about 5 tests there were no problems with the solenoid kicking in while turning the key to off position. So thankfully the wiring is ok but we have just been unlucky with switches. We have 2 original 1961 switches and one repro I have as spare for my 65 GTO. So until we find a good switch/rebuild one or have one rebuilt we can use the push button to start it. I was worried about the wiring since we rewired the car with a universal aftermarket kit during the restoration.

We also have a too frequent starter freewheeling issue and I wondered if that was related but the push button didn't fix that. I think we have the same luck with solenoids! We put a NAPA/Echlin solenoid in yesterday. It works fine when cold but as soon as the car warmups, the freewheeling starts. Once or twice, then it will engage and start the car. I think we will try a new AC Delco starter from our host next.

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Old 03-21-2021, 07:52 PM
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Sorry it was "389" that recommended the push button starter switch... I did also follow mgarblik's recommendation the plug and terminals. Thank you to both for your help!

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Old 03-22-2021, 10:54 AM
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pfilean pfilean is offline
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That wire from the switch to the solenoid also goes to the neutral safety switch or for a manual transmission there is a junction block instead of the switch. A neutral safety switch would also include the backup light switch. Any chance that someone has done something screwy with that part of the wiring? Can't imaging how but I have seen some strange wiring done over the years.

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Old 03-22-2021, 01:20 PM
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By installing the push button I figured it would either validate the wiring / circuit (if the problem went away) or validate the ignition switch (if the problem persisted). I removed the solenoid wire/terminal from the ignition switch and hooked it up to the push button and connected the other side to BAT. Its working now with no problems when moving the ignition switch from ON to OFF. So since I am using the same circuit from switch/button to the starter it tells me the circuit is good and the stock ignition switch is causing the starter to engage while moving it from ON to OFF.

It's a stick car, no neutral safety switch. We used an American Autowire kit during the restoration. It has a 100amp alternator which is way more than it needs but the voltage is regulated.
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