Pigtail Connection at Ignition Switch building Resistance

[jrq2a]

Hey Everyone,


I replaced my ignition switch, and necessarily the blue pig tail connector at the switch, in my 1995 z28 about a year and a half ago (at about 100000mi). Over the past year and a half, it has given me so much trouble...first, I simply crimped the connector wires to the wires under the dash. This worked great for about a month. Then a when I would turn the key to start the car, I would only get a "click" at the starter...so I would hot-start my car at the starter and then my car would start fine until I let it sit for more than a few hours. So after recrimping the connection (only where the two leads, pink and red, meet at the single ignition switch lead), it would work great for another month or so until more resistance built in the connection.

After doing this a couple times, I tried soldering the connection. This worked better (car started great for months at a time), but still it would build resistance and I would get a light click at the starter. At this point, I would hook up my makeshift push button starter and get it going. Once I started my car once, it would start fine until I let it sit (overnight, for example). Again, I would have to do this every few months because the connection would get progressively worse until I would just have to use the push-button start every morning I started it.

So currently, I tried something different by crimping an eyelet to each of the three wires meeting at the connection (one red, one pink, and the lead from the new pigtail connector), and I bolted the three eyelets together. This worked well for a few weeks, but now I'm getting the click at the starter.

So my question is, do you guys have any advice as to how I should connect these wires? Each wire is 10-12gauge, so connecting 2 into 1 makes for a big mass of wire, and for some reason, I simply haven't gotten a tight enough connection to prevent the buildup of resistance. Are there methods you would suggest for this type of connection? Could the starter wire at the ignition switch be going bad from age? I've noticed that the insulation is melted/sticking to the copper core as I peel back the wire each time I recrimp. (Note that when I soldered these, I used an underpowered soldering gun (100W, I believe) that couldn't heat through the wires from the bottom so that I couldn't quite get solder to flow through...but I don't see why crimping the wires and wrapping tightly with electrical tape should allow such resistance to build???) Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,

Jesse

[Paulster2]

It sounds to me as though there is an issue somewhere else in the chain besides where you are soldering/butt connecting/eyelet bolting together your connection, but I'm just throwing that out there. I would have thought soldering would have worked without issue, and is the way I would hav eput it back together if I were doing it. Don't know what else to say ... maybe someone else has some ideas for you.

[Shoebox]

The power connection at the ignition switch does have a tendency to get hot and cause greater resistance and voltage drop, but it does sound like you have an extraordinary circumstance to have so much continued trouble. Either the connection is not staying tight or there is unusually high resistance somewhere inline. I would bet more on the connection. Have you installed a new pigtail for the bad connector?

If you are joining the red and pink wires together, you definitely should not be. The red is the input power to the switch and the pink is output.

[jrq2a]

Yes, the connector in question is a new one. I spliced in a new pigtail connector at the same time I replaced the ignition switch due to the old one being melted badly. You mention that I should not connect the red and pink wires...don't these wires lead to the same place, though? In the OEM switch and connector, the red and pink wires both ran to the same lead on the ignition switch. If you look at your pictures on your R&R the Ignition Switch page, can you see what I'm talking about? So the way I currently have it rigged up is I have crimped an eyelet on the end of the red, another on the end of the pink, and another on the end of the new white lead from the new pigtail connector. I bolted the three together tightly, and this held for a few weeks. I'm a little confused as to how I can run the red and pink wires to the same point (to the same white wire at the pigtail connector) without them being "connected"? If you had to replace the connector at the time you replaced your ignition switch, would you happen to have taken any pictures of the final connection?

[Shoebox]

Originally Posted by jrq2a

Yes, the connector in question is a new one. I spliced in a new pigtail connector at the same time I replaced the ignition switch due to the old one being melted badly. You mention that I should not connect the red and pink wires...don't these wires lead to the same place, though? In the OEM switch and connector, the red and pink wires both ran to the same lead on the ignition switch. If you look at your pictures on your R&R the Ignition Switch page, can you see what I'm talking about? So the way I currently have it rigged up is I have crimped an eyelet on the end of the red, another on the end of the pink, and another on the end of the new white lead from the new pigtail connector. I bolted the three together tightly, and this held for a few weeks. I'm a little confused as to how I can run the red and pink wires to the same point (to the same white wire at the pigtail connector) without them being "connected"? If you had to replace the connector at the time you replaced your ignition switch, would you happen to have taken any pictures of the final connection?

No, they don't. You essentially have wired it so that some of your components have constant power and turning the key OFF does nothing. It's like leaving the key ON all the time for those components fed by the pink wire. Not a very good thing to do. Somethng could burn up.

http://shbox.com/1/ignswschematic.jpg

I'll say again, red is power input to the switch and pink is switched power out.

I don't see the red and pink wire going to the same terminal in my pic.

[jrq2a]

Sorry about that, I didn't stop to think that there's actually a dark red wire below the connection I'm talking about...I didn't mean to confuse the two. I keep referring to the two wires as "red" and "pink" because one of the pink wires has faded to a reddish color and that's how I've been differentiating the two. So to be clearer, I'm talking about the two pink wires leading to the same connection in your picture (upper left of the connector). I have connected these two pink wires to the single lead of the new connector, and this seems to be a troubled connection. For some reason, it keeps building resistance to the point that it prevents the car from starting after some time. So I am wondering if there are any "best methods" of connecting these wires? I figured soldering is the best way to go, but I don't have a powerful soldering gun to do the job with... so are there any alternative methods that provide a similarly-strong connection?

Also, do you know where the two pink wires lead? Does one go directly to the starter? And does the other carry power to the other components?

Thanks,

Jesse

[jrq2a]

The problem I have had with crimping (with a butt connector) is that I have two (pink) 10 or 12ga wires connecting to a single 10/12ga white wire...so I've always had a loose connection trying to stuff the two pink wires into one end of a 10/12ga-sizedbutt connector...do they make butt connectors for the purpose of taking in multiple wires and connecting to a single wire?

[Shoebox]

Originally Posted by jrq2a

Sorry about that, I didn't stop to think that there's actually a dark red wire below the connection I'm talking about...I didn't mean to confuse the two. I keep referring to the two wires as "red" and "pink" because one of the pink wires has faded to a reddish color and that's how I've been differentiating the two. So to be clearer, I'm talking about the two pink wires leading to the same connection in your picture (upper left of the connector). I have connected these two pink wires to the single lead of the new connector, and this seems to be a troubled connection. For some reason, it keeps building resistance to the point that it prevents the car from starting after some time. So I am wondering if there are any "best methods" of connecting these wires? I figured soldering is the best way to go, but I don't have a powerful soldering gun to do the job with... so are there any alternative methods that provide a similarly-strong connection?

Also, do you know where the two pink wires lead? Does one go directly to the starter? And does the other carry power to the other components?

Thanks,

Jesse

I provided a link to a schematic. Did you look at it?

[jrq2a]

Yes, I just looked at it (I didn't see the link above the photo the first time I read your response). OK, so I have wired it correctly... I'm sure that my connection is just not staying tight. I will probably end up investing in a nice, high-wattage soldering gun so that I can actually get solder to flow through the joint, since crimping isn't working out too well for me.