North American Turbocoupe Organization

Full Version: Bah!! Bastard ignition switch melted my wiring harness!
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I have attached pictures.. I knew the switch went bad, but I didn't think it melted the wires until inspection today! [Image: frown.gif] I have another connector in my '87 parts car that I'm swapping ignition components with (see my last post here about swapping column components).

What do I have to do? Cut and splice wires? I really need some quick help here! This sucks!

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Ryan Harris

1988 TC, 5 speed, all options including sunroof Smile

1987 3.8L V6, C4, 160K miles, no options (winter car, when it works)

RIP 1987 TC, "Built" A4LD, 119K miles, all options except sunroof Sad

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'88? Ford recalled millions of ignition switches ('88 T-Bird covered) for faulty ignition switches that overheated and presented a fire hazard. There were hundreds of Fords that had interior fires that were traced back to faulty ignition switches.
If I bring the car to my local Ford dealer, will they replace the harness connector and switch for me?

[This message has been edited by Ryan H (edited 12-27-2004).]
Or better yet, is it safe to splice a new connector on? I need to get this fixed ASAP, the car is almost ready to be put back together and I need to have a working ignition.. [Image: frown.gif]

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Ryan Harris

1988 TC, 5 speed, all options including sunroof Smile

1987 3.8L V6, C4, 160K miles, no options (winter car, when it works)

RIP 1987 TC, "Built" A4LD, 119K miles, all options except sunroof Sad

My Audio Mixes
If it were me, I would just get a new connector and splice it in myself. If you go that route, be sure to do a good job soldering the wires, and use heat shrink tubing to insulate every connection.

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 21 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 04 Taurus Duratec (wifes car)
I guess I'll do that then. I can cut the connector off of my '87. About the soldering- what kind of flux should I use for this? Also, when soldering wires together (never done that before), do I twist the wires together before heating and applying flux, or just press together, heat, and apply the flux without twisting? Does it matter?

Thanks.

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Ryan Harris

1988 TC, 5 speed, all options including sunroof Smile

1987 3.8L V6, C4, 160K miles, no options (winter car, when it works)

RIP 1987 TC, "Built" A4LD, 119K miles, all options except sunroof Sad

My Audio Mixes
just use standard resin core solder. stay away from acid flux. resin core solder should be fine and plenty for a wire splice.
use a 35-45 watt iron, anything smaller will heat it too slowly and would probably melt the insulation.
place the heat shrink tubing around one end of the wire and slide it down out of the way. twist the wires together inline (so it will look like one strait piece). apply iron and solder. pull the heat shrink back down over the joint and heat the tubing.

twisting the wires together privides a way to hold the wires together until you can solder it. use pliers or something to hold it because it will burn your fingers for sure.
Many of the wires to that connector are pretty heavy gauge, like 12 ga, and one or 2 might even be 10 ga. A 45W iron isnt going to cut it for soldering heavy gauge wires like that. You will need at least a 100W gun, or even higher. When soldering heavy gauge wires, I use my Weller gun on the 140W setting.

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 21 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 04 Taurus Duratec (wifes car)
I have a 100W gun and a 35W iron.. I've soldered stuff with the 35W before and I much prefer using the 100W for stuff like speakers and redoing broken electrical connections.

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Ryan Harris

1988 TC, 5 speed, all options including sunroof Smile

1987 3.8L V6, C4, 160K miles, no options (winter car, when it works)

RIP 1987 TC, "Built" A4LD, 119K miles, all options except sunroof Sad

My Audio Mixes