I put in a new ignition switch yesterday. I got 3 starts outta of the damn thing and then it took a crap. What a pain in the Ass to have to tear everything apart again to replace the crappy made ignition switch. This time I bought 2 of the damn things.

I know that feeling. When I did the whole wiring harness I found out the hard way the whole short in the system took out the coil and burned up the wires and burned the dizzy wire in half lol.

At least you're getting it fixed!

chillout take adeep one breath and ask what is happening. youdont want to be throwing new switches at this probelm every three starts!

was the install compromised, ? if so, what went wrong and do it different before comencing to replace again.

was the new swtich defective? if so, maybe find out if these are bad switches (china??) and if so, pay more and get a better version???


hate to see this happen a second time to you, got to figure what is wrong here.

good luck

I pulled everything apart again, checked the wiring to the starter was ok, checked the relay under the pass. seat, was ok. Checked the wiring on the plug that plugs into the ignition switch that was all ok. Pulled the switch and the pin for the starter was a no go, the switch is the problem.

After we determined that the switch was the problem, we took it apart. The switch is in 3 sections. When we opened up one of the sections it looked like scrambled eggs in there. Little parts, little springs, it looked like one of the springs came undone and that allowed all the parts to come undone. Cheap ass important part for our cars. SUKS

I bought the switch from a reputable vendor, can't blame the vendor here. Piece of shit switch period.

Hey Jim! You get pretty good at it after 2 or 3 rounds.

...I get them from VW shops around town(german or at least South american)??
I think you'll be okay now!

From your post I believe you have at least a 75 model....you are lucky in that respect because 75 & 76 model years are the only ones that still have factory original switches available.......The rest (as far as I know) only have the cheap junk switch available.

I am just curious about the switch, did it say "HECHO EN MEXICO" or was is the super POS "MADE IN CHINA"

i more frequently now see: " Hencho en China" cracks me up till I think about it, then I get very sad.

Jerry, now I have to go see where the one I bought was made. I think it is a Bosch box.

Is that possible?

The garage is too far away for this time of night.

John











quote name='realred914' date='Aug 24 2010, 06:45 PM' post='1360783']
[quote name='pilothyer' post='1360746' date='Aug 24 2010, 05:30 PM']
[quote name='StratPlayer' post='1360689' date='Aug 24 2010, 05:51 PM']

I bought the switch from a reputable vendor, can't blame the vendor here. Piece of shit switch period.
[/quote]

I am just curious about the switch, did it say "HECHO EN MEXICO" or was is the super POS "MADE IN CHINA"
[/quote]


i more frequently now see: " Hencho en China" cracks me up till I think about it, then I get very sad.
[/quote]

Update:

I picked up another ignition switch here locally. I looked all over that switch for a mfg. mark or numbers there wasn't a number or letter anywhere on the switch to indicate where it was made. Tested the switch all was ok, installed the switch and everything is working fine. Hope this switch last a long time.

Did you get the cheap $12 one or the auto atlanta $35 one?

They're the same switch with a 7x markup! I bought one at a VW shop that seemed to work well but required some jiggling to get it to work. Before I put in the roll cage I figured I should buy a good one from AA. I went right to AA last year to purchase it, saw the box and said WTF? They assured me it was the good one. I flew home, grabbed the other switch and find out they are the same switch. Now I'm partially pissed but decided to install it anyways an give them the benefit of the doubt. Bzzzz, wrong. The $35 is as bad as the $5 one. Don't waste your money.

My friend was at some auto parts place here locally the day the new switch that was installed took a crap. He called me from this parts place telling me they had an ignition switch for my car,,, I asked him how much,,, he told me they wanted 42.00 for the switch, he also said it was made in the usa. I told him no way, I went to a VW shop and got the switch I put in the car now, 11 bucks. We'll see how long it last.

Update,,, switch is still working just fine

Yep I can do mine in about 10min. I was having that issue with my suby conversion. I've since added a push button start & taken the starter off the switch completely. It definitely helped my situation. Those switches are crap though. I always order an extra as they are cheap. Keep on in my glove box for the next time

[quote name='avidfanjpl' date='Aug 24 2010, 11:44 PM' post='1360909']
Jerry, now I have to go see where the one I bought was made. I think it is a Bosch box.

Is that possible?

The garage is too far away for this time of night.

John

Possible? No. Bosch never produced that particular part for VWs or Porsches.

The Cap'n











quote name='realred914' date='Aug 24 2010, 06:45 PM' post='1360783']
[quote name='pilothyer' post='1360746' date='Aug 24 2010, 05:30 PM']
[quote name='StratPlayer' post='1360689' date='Aug 24 2010, 05:51 PM']

I bought the switch from a reputable vendor, can't blame the vendor here. Piece of shit switch period.
[/quote]

I am just curious about the switch, did it say "HECHO EN MEXICO" or was is the super POS "MADE IN CHINA"
[/quote]


i more frequently now see: " Hencho en China" cracks me up till I think about it, then I get very sad.
[/quote]
[/quote]

Update, they switch is still working and working like it should.

lucky

The Chinese switch will have a Sharpie dot, usually green, from when it passed "quality control".

It doesn't matter which brand, they are all reselling from the same manufacturer.

Good news Jim
Now tell us which switch (brand/seller) we can rely on.
On the positive side; at least you’be have most of the worst calamities behind you.... Keep you car locked up....

Welcome to the URO failure rate...

The good thing that came out of all this is that I installed an extra starter button in the engine bay, switch takes a crap at least I have another way of starting the car.

Depends. If the switch doesn’t power the fuse panel, the coil won’t have juice... Right ?

Jim the starter button in the engine bay is connected to a solenoid near the starter. You seen it in operation at rt. 66 rally at idylwild. In post 11 I talk about the new switch.

I found a Wells LS320, reboxed as "Duralast", at Autozone. If you believe the box, it's made in Germany. $7.95 plus tax. So perhaps a way to get a Meistersatz locally. I just installed it so I can't comment on it's durability yet. The one that came out of the car that had broken was original Porsche.

-Carl

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Autozone. Too cool at $8. The combo switch, 308, looks lot like the turn sig in our cars.

Late model switch LS506 is 21 bucks.

Hey Carl.....any chance you could send a picture of the switch? Sounds like you hit pay dirt.....please and thank you.
gg

Try this:
Switch

Yes, the link shows the actual switch that's in the box. It was correct for my '74.

-Carl


Try this:
Switch
[/quote]

Not entirely sure they know what they are talking about. https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting...8_167189_0_7768

there are several cheap ones and then the expensive one that works. One can tell right away because there is too much slack in the cheap one and the key cannot be turned enough after taking up the slack to engage the starter solenoid. Back in 1978 we would sell the good switch for 19.50, now you can buy cheap Chinese crap for four bucks or so, and maybe they would work in a vw, but not a 75 76 914

Which shop did you get the switch from? Bobs? I would love to find a good one.

I have purchased a couple ignition switches online that I never wound up installing due to the plastic casting being so bad you could visually tell they were garbage (and I doubt they would have even fit as is) I have been running into the same issue with turn signal switches as well, been through 4 of them in the last year (two of which were even Meyle , but not actually made in Germany)

so much garbage out there.

Pretty much all of the cheap ones are the same "economy" switch in a different box. We discussed the feasibility of making a high-end switch, but the cost of making tooling for each of the tiny parts in the assembly is probably more than you'd ever make back selling the switch, even if you sold them for $30+. And you'd be competing with all the cheap ones. It's a case of "buy the best one you can afford" unfortunately, without any middle ground.

James yes I did pick up the switch at Bob’s:

Nice! Good to know he has decent ones.

I dont know if it would really be a competition, the cheap ones just flat out don't work. At some point anyone with a bad switch is going to need to buy one that works.

'But not for a 75 76 914'. Does that mean the 320 is a product that would work for the earlier column switches?

I find that the argument “we could’ve made one work, but we didn’t.” Very disheartening. Not as disheartening as hearing about making something known to not work, and selling it as though it does. Bringing these cars back from the dead is hard enough as it is. Hhmmm. I find no weeping cartoon critter.

As Mike Bellis recommends, adding a relay to the circuit to make sure the starter solenoid gets 12V and limits the current through the ignition switch definitely can't hurt, regardless of the switch being used.

The "Ford solenoid mod" could also be done (which doesn't reduce current through the switch, but does allow the solenoid to work even if there's a voltage drop through the switch): http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...308904&st=0