How to remove ignition switch??

[Roger K]

Late GT6 MkIII with the steering column lock.  The column is still in the car.  The workshop manual says to remove the cover from the back of the switch, then remove the switch.  I've tried pulling on the back of it as much as I dare - there isn't much to get hold of, and I don't want to risk pulling on the wiring - but no joy.  Are there any small plungers, tabs, clips etc. they're not telling me about?  Or is it just a straight pull backwards?  Push a screwdriver between switch and the key part, and twist/lever it out?  Not sure how much heft to use without causing damage, so any advice gratefully received.

[GrahamB]

On the Spitfire there are two grub screws holding the switch mechanism to the lock part.  The GT6 may be similar.

[Roger K]

11 minutes ago, GrahamB said:

On the Spitfire there are two grub screws holding the switch mechanism to the lock part.  The GT6 may be similar.

Thanks Graham - can't see them easily - are they facing out of the back of the switch, or holding it in at the sides?  Do I have to remove the steering lock to get at them?

[GrahamB]

From what I remember they are in the sides opposite each other.  I was removing the steering lock to see if I could get it to work but I cannot remember if I removed the lock and then the switch  or  the switch and then the lock.  The previous owner had replaced the shear bolts with hex sockets so removal of the lock was not a problem once I had realised that they were metric.

[GrahamB]

[Roger K]

Thanks Graham.  Now, why didn't Triumph include that diagram in the GT6 manual??

[Pete Lewis]

yes remove the small screws around/in the hsg and the switch part is loose to remove  without upsetting the locking components .

Pete

[DanMi]

2 hours ago, Roger K said:

Thanks Graham.  Now, why didn't Triumph include that diagram in the GT6 manual??

They would never have included that diagram in a GT6 manual as it is the very late spitfire set up, post about 1978 so well after GT6 production had stopped

[NonMember]

I don't think there are any grub screws on a GT6 ignition switch. It's a push fit in the back of the lock, with a rubber boot over it to hold it all together. As Dan says, Graham's diagram is of a completely different setup and is not helpful in this case.

[Roger K]

Ah, OK.  So get a fine screwdriver in and twist?  The cover on the back is rigid plastic but doesn't fit at all tightly over the switch.  The switch wobbles in the back of the steering lock but won't come out by pulling on it.

[thescrapman]

I a man sure there are screws on the "knee-breaker" steering locks as well, will have to go and look at a spare.

[NonMember]

10 hours ago, Roger K said:

he switch wobbles in the back of the steering lock but won't come out by pulling on it.

OK, that is suggestive of a screw of some sort. Mine was quite stiff but did pull out, last time I checked, and I assumed that was normal as I couldn't see any screws in the parts book.

[dougbgt6]

Is this any use? Notice the tiny holes above the locating lug, there’s another same size hole around the other side. No screws came out when I disassembled it, but they may have fallen out over the decades!

 

Doug

[Roger K]

All very helpful, thanks.  I'll see if I can get my head back under there whilst maintaining my focal distance, which never used to be a problem...  if I could get the big soft rubber cover off it might help, but I'm guessing that needs the whole lock off to remove as it, too, won't come off in situ.

[Roger K]

Yep, there was a small slotted screw head on the side of the switch, facing downwards.  Switch now successfully out.

Could someone advise on the wiring?  As per the manual, I have one brown wire, one white with pink tracer, one double connection white, one single connection white.  There is also a second single connection white, so I seem to have one more white than the shop manual.  I don't have any added accessories, any ideas what this might be?  It has a factory-type connector on it.

One last question - late GT6 MkIII - should this car have a 6V coil?  There's no separate ballast resistor, but I think there may be some resistance wiring in the harness.  Do they run 6V all the time?  There doesn't seem to be any switching between voltages for 'start' and 'run' conditions.

[NonMember]

You should have a white with "K" (pink?) tracer to feed the heater fan and radio (if fitted). It'll be separate from the other whites as it's live in "accessory" position but not in "starter". There will also be a white with red tracer for the starter solenoid. Is one of the whites actually one of those?

I believe very late Mk3 probably has the ballast wire in the harness. The bypass goes from the coil end to the starter solenoid fourth terminal. It won't be obvious at the coil and doesn't go anywhere near the ignition switch.

[dougbgt6]

The ballast wire IS the one with the pink tracer 

However on my late MK3 it runs to the solenoid which is physically closer to the ignition switch and then a white and yellow on to the coil.

And yes a 6 volt coil although these are confusingly sometimes marked 12 volt. You have disconnect and  put a meter across the terminals, 6 volt should be around 1.5 ohms, 12 volt 3 ohms.

 

Doug

[Roger K]

45 minutes ago, NonMember said:

You should have a white with "K" (pink?) tracer to feed the heater fan and radio (if fitted). It'll be separate from the other whites as it's live in "accessory" position but not in "starter". There will also be a white with red tracer for the starter solenoid. Is one of the whites actually one of those?

I believe very late Mk3 probably has the ballast wire in the harness. The bypass goes from the coil end to the starter solenoid fourth terminal. It won't be obvious at the coil and doesn't go anywhere near the ignition switch.

Exactly correct, Rob.  The pink was extremely faded.

Thanks all, connector sorted and switch back in place.  For future ref, if any searches in this - on my car, post-KE20000, there is a single slotted screw in the side of the steering lock, retaining the ignition switch in position.

[Roger K]

Doug, not quite...  The wire you have in your diagram going from terminal 1 on the switch to the solenoid is red/white, not pink/white.  This is the starter solenoid feed wire.  The white with pink tracer (white/pink) is shown at terminal 5 on your diagram, and is the auxiliary feed (radio etc.).  I think you may have confused white/pink with pink/white - i.e. PINK wire with WHITE tracer, which is shown in your diagram connecting a white switch wire to the +ve of the coil and marked 'Ballast Wire'.

Edit - interesting, just checked on my car and there is no pink/white going to the coil, only a single white/yellow.  This goes from the coil +ve into the main, original harness, at the point where the pink/white wire is visible.  Only a little of this wire can be seen as it goes into a factory connector 'blind end', in which it is joined to two white/yellow wires.  My coil is 1.7ohms so is presumably for a ballasted system.

[Pete Lewis]

i always recognise the white /yellow as the bypass wire from the solenoid crank feed 

Pete

[Roger K]

The what, Pete?

[Colin Lindsay]

7 hours ago, Roger K said:

I think you may have confused white/pink with pink/white

You say potato, we say potato. I wouldn't trust that wiring diagram, one of the horns has the music coming out upside down.

But: seriously folks, white / red to solenoid, white / pink to radio, and white / yellow to coil. Easy for me to remember as Heralds ain't got no ballast...

 

 

[Pete Lewis]

ballast coils have a wire from the starter solenoid to the coil so when you crank up you poke 12v into the 6v ballast coil to boost the spark  thats what a ballasted system does for you 

normally its a white/yellow    can be off a lucar or main    to starter terminal on the sol.

Pete

[Roger K]

31 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

You say potato, we say potato. I wouldn't trust that wiring diagram, one of the horns has the music coming out upside down.

But: seriously folks, white / red to solenoid, white / pink to radio, and white / yellow to coil. Easy for me to remember as Heralds ain't got no ballast...

 

 

There's a big difference between a white wire with a pink tracer, and a pink wire with a white tracer!  I mean, you don't want to connect your ignition switch to the radio, and your radio to the coil, do you?  I know quite a lot of horn players where the music comes out upside down.

[Jezter]

The ignition switch installation on my late GT6 mk3 is asper the workshop manual, see pic:

I have a new wiring loom ready to install and have found the ballast wire is as per the workshop manual.

The ballast wire is pink with white trace but you will only see it in the wiring diagram, see pic. The wire white with yellow trace connects to the positive terminal on the coil and the ballast wire is crimped in series with the white/yellow supply wire and the white wire connected to terminal 3 on the starter switch. This crimped conection is hidden within the loom, as explained in the workshop manual, see pic: