Casteelx

Good Evening, I just purchased a replacement Ignition Switch, however it has 6 connections compared to the Original. The original harness from the dash colors are different from the new one.

New

Lostviking

Sounds like it's not a exact replacement. Try to find the one for your truck.

RacerHog

So it wont plug in? or You dont know how to connect the 2 loose wires?

dodgem880

I’m late to the party but, I’ll share what I know.

The ignition switch was terminated to a single connector on the early trucks (74-75?).

By 77 the switch was split among two connectors. This is because the “battery +” (black) wire and “Accessory” (blue) wire where moved to a dedicated two blade connector.

Those two wires are not made ready on an aftermarket switch. The wires are however pre-crimped for the early trucks, but not clicked into the 8-pin connector body.

If you have a one connector truck, simply click the two wires into their correct positions on the 8-pin connector.

If you have a two connector truck. Included with the switch should be a 2 pin connector and crimp terminals. You cut the existing barrel terminals off, crimp on the blade terminals and slide on the connector body. The terminals should lock in place.

In either case be sure not the mix up the wire positions, use your original switch as a reference. edit: mixing up the “battery +” wire and “Accessory” wire will result in no ignition power while cranking.

edit: I forgot to mention you also need to transfer the wire for you gear selector (PRNDL) back light over to the new harness connector. This will require the use of a depinning tool. Aftermarket switches make this more difficult because their harness length is way too long compared to an oem switch. You will most likely need to extended the PRNDL light wire or shorten the aftermarket harness.

And since we’re dealing with aftermarket parts… I would recommend testing the switch before installation. Make sure all the wires are in the correct place in the connector body, Use a multimeter to test for high resistance (ohming is okay, checking for actual voltage drop is better), make sure the switch will click into all positions… you can’t overlook anything. Trust no one.

I did all this and still got burned because I overlooked something.

Story time

A few months back I installed an aftermarket switch (Part # US88 by Standard) in my truck while making some other steering column repairs. After the repairs where complete my truck began having intermittent starting issues. I made the mistake of assuming it was my EFI (FiTech) kit, I reset it and played with settings but, nothing changed. Then, after spending too much time looking in the wrong place I got a hunch that finally turned my attention back to the ignition switch.

I wondered if the new switch had a dead spot.

For those that don’t know. The FiTech efi units have a white wire that gets connected to a keyed 12 volt source. This source must also stay powered during engine cranking. Prior to my efi conversion I had converted my ignition over to hei thus eliminating the ballast resistor. So, I joined the “run” and “crank” ignition wires together (in the engine bay). This arrangement proved to be very convenient for my FiTech installation.

I confirmed a dead spot within 5 minutes with a test light and remote starter button...

The ignition switch I received had an open circuit/dead spot halfway between the "run" and "crank" positions which momentary interrupted power to the ignition (and thus my efi)... The "crank" contacts should close (to bypass the ballast resistor) before the "run" contacts open and vice versa when the key is released to spring back to the run position. I’m surprised my engine started at all. Just a blip is all thats needed to trigger the FiTech to shutdown.

And while I’m sure this switch defect wouldn’t greatly affect a carbureted engine, I dont’t see how it would help it either. In the end it doesn't matter. An OEM switch doesn't behave this way, neither should a replacement.

I've yet to addressed this issue but, I’ll most likely reinstall my old switch (it worked but, was worn) or try to modify the new switch to work correctly. I’ll give an update when I do.

So the moral of the story.. aftermarket parts suck and never throw away original parts. I’ve been down this road some many times..



I hope someone find this info/rant useful or at least entertaining.