Ignition switch bad?

[zasher303]

Hi, I have an 87 Ram 50 2.0l with the Weber conversion. I have been running the truck for 6 months now and all of the sudden I have a no start issue. The truck was running good untill this randomly started. I've tested the starter separately and it turns over just fine. But when I rol the key to on my battery voltage goes from 12.6-12.9v down under 6v and I've traced every other wire in the truck. But I'm not fully sure how to tell if the ignition switch is shorting something or what. Any help that you guys have for me is greatly appreciated.

[sith33]

I had a very similar issue on my 86. I confirmed it by unplugging the ignition switch connector at the base of the steering column and hot-wiring it temporarily (you can use a multimeter with a continuity mode to figure out which pin connects to which).

At least on the gen1 trucks, it's really easy to pop the switch part off the back of the key barrel itself (just remove the plastic column cover). I pulled mine apart and just cleaned all the contacts with electronics cleaner - mine was really, really gunky and gross. It's worked perfectly since then.

[SubGothius]

Good advice. Also, if you find your switch is too damaged to clean/repair, note you can replace just that electrical switch part alone fairly cheaply, without having to replace the entire ignition lock-cylinder-switch assembly.

[zasher303]

Thanks for the advice, I tried cleaning all of the contacts related to the ignition switch. But that didn't seem to do anything. I talked to my friend who I bought the truck from and he told me that the battery he put into the truck when he got it running, was just a battery that his buddy had laying around. So I decided to grab the battery out of my wife's old broke down car. And charged it up. Now that seems to have fixed my no start issue. But I did notice now that my radio doesn't shut off anymore when I turn the truck off. Does anyone have an idea with that? I haven't had the chance to look into it too much yet, but it seems odd that it al the sudden doesn't shut off with the rest of the truck.

[sith33]

That definitely seems odd. You could use a multimeter to see if the ignition is maybe staying in the accessory position - it's possibly you got the ignition switch a little misaligned.

[geezer101]

If the cigarette lighter has power as well, the accessory circuit is still on. Only place that could be the culprit is the ignition switch...

[Chargerx3]

I had a click click no start issue on mine for a while. Turns out it was the battery posts just needed a REALLY good cleaning. No more issues.