Re: 5000 ignition switch

[Walter Turchyn <wturchyn@wpg.paramax.com>]

On Tue, 20 Sep 1994, Ray Fink wrote:

> I had a 77 Fox that ate ignition switches every 20K miles or so.  I finally
> got tired of hotwiring the ignition on those occasions, and bought two
> replacements at once in order to keep a fresh one in the glovebox.  Sheesh!
> 
> It was a simple job on the Fox, and suspect the same on a 5000.  Drop the
> lower dash panel, pull off the wiring connector, loosen one setscrew
> on the side of the lock column, the switch falls out in your hand. Ten
> minutes at the most; don't need to remove the lock.

Talk about deja vu all over again!  I'm still driving my '77 Fox (4 dr,
88K miles) and about a year ago, my ignition switch went.  The car died at
a traffic light while I was on my way to work, and I could not rotate the
key or pull it out.  Luckily, the steering wheel was not locked.  Traffic
was light, so I stuck the car in neutral and pushed it over to the
roadside.  There was a VW dealer about a mile away, and I was
contemplating having to call a tow truck, when I decided to take a few
minutes to look at the lock.  Got out the Phillips screwdriver I always
carry in the glove box, dropped the dash panel, and a few minutes later, 
I had the ignition switch unplugged.  Needless to say, I didn't have a 
spare switch, but I thought that I might be able to simulate the switch 
closely enough to start the car and drive it to the dealer.  

I got out a couple of paper clips (kept with the Phillips screwdriver), 
and started bridging pairs of pins, trying to find the ignition and start 
contacts.  Less than a minute later, the car was running, and I drove 
down to the dealer's repair shop.  Forty-five minutes and $100 later, I 
back on my way to work.

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Walter Turchyn		   wturchyn@wpg.paramax.com    (204)-253-3141
Principal Design Engineer      
Unisys GSG Canada,  101-51 Burmac Rd.  Winnipeg, MB,   Canada R2J 4C9
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