I had finished servicing the car, all fluids and filters were changed. New plugs, wires, cap, etc. the car was down from the jack stands after several days and I disconnected the coil in order to spin the engine and spread that "new oil goodness" around before I fired it up. I turned the key to position 2 and everything lit up as normal, the fuel pump started pumping and everything seemed good. When I turned the key to position 3 so the engine would crank, everything promptly died. I checked fuses, etc and reached under the dash and wiggled wires (my knee pad is currently removed) and Voila! It worked again. I cranked the engine with no spark to build up some oil pressure, turned everything off, reconnected the coil to take the car out for a drive and -you guessed it- nothing.

No amount of wire-wiggling or disconnecting and reconnecting of plugs has helped. I'm open to opinions here, am I chasing a short, or has my ignition switch given up the ghost?

Ignition switch electrical portion is probably split into.

And how did you disconnect the coil?

I disconnected the HT lead that goes to the distributor cap.

That's a really bad way to do it. Most folks would simply disconnect and protect the 12V+ wire from terminal 15.

The Cap'n

What you described is a typical bad connection that breaks down under higher load. Under a smaller load, everything drawing little amounts of current works OK, as soon as a high current draw is applied to the circuit, the starter is a high current draw for the solenoid thru the key switch, the connection brakes down and doesn't allow current flow. I would check the 3 ( early cars) or 4 ( later cars) red wires at the battery positive and see if there is corrosion or damaged strands in the wires.
Tom

Try the old fashioned jumper on the starter to see if it runs. The plastic ign switch cracks and is an easy fix.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...tion_switch.htm

For most of my career in the Marines (17 of 21 years) I was involved in helicopter maintenance in one form or another, so turning wrenches poses no problems for me.
Electrical gripes, on the other hand tend to be another thing altogether. Other than some basic theory in school when I was starting, I never really had to chase trons and I still have problems when things like this come up. If it's the ignition switch, no sweat, but why is it better to disconnect the wire at terminal 15 instead of at the coil? I'm not questioning your knowledge Cap'n, I really want to know why it's better to do one procedure vs another. Thanx for all the help everyone,

Richard

Removing the connector at terminal 15 removes the positive power from the coil so there is no current flow thru it if the points are closed. leaving the switch on long lengths of time will overheat the coil and points if the points are closed.
If you are cranking it over to get the oil pressure up, I also don't see what difference it makes except you are building up the high voltage and not giving it a path to discharge. Maybe over time this does something to the coil. ??
If you do take the connector off terminal 15, make sure you tape it up to insulate it from ground.
Tom

I just realized that disconnecting the circuit is better than having a loose lead looking for a ground in the engine compartment when the engine is spun up. If I hadn't been in such a hurry the other day, I would have realized it then, too. Next time I'll pull the wire from terminal 15.

I hate the thought of pulling the steering wheel (again) but I think that's my next step. All the wiring appears to be sound.

Fixed it. The jackassery of people never ceases to amaze me. As I was trouble shooting, I realized that even the un-switched circuits were dead, not just the ignition, leading me to widen my search for a problem. Here's what I found:
Click to view attachment
Yep, the grounding wire from the battery (I know it's red, but whatever) was fastened to the metal connector with ELECTRICAL TAPE! $5.13 for a new one and I'm back in business. The car started before it even turned over a full revolution.
I took it for a drive and life is wonderful. Now on to the next item on the list...

Nice work.

well, that sure fits the analogy I gave in post #6, however, I expected something on the positive side, not the negative.
Tom

$5 for tape seems expensive...but you needed TIGHT tape

It was the wrong color tape. Red tape would have kept it together for a lifetime. Of course if the cable had been black....well, that's an entirely different matter.

"Jackassery". I LIKE that!

The Cap'n

They would have done better to put the wire under the bolt with an extra large washer.

Good call, Tom. You were right that it was going to be something big to shut down when I was asking for a big current draw. I'm glad that I don't have to pull the steering wheel!