Ignition switch wiring
 

So ive got a 1969 chevy c20 with a 350. I am replacing the ignition switch connector. I got a new one from Autozone pn: 642. Its the duralast brand with 10 wires coming out of it. I thought i had it wired up correctly, it started and i drove it a couple miles but something was draining the battery. Do i need to hook up all 10 wires? Which ones are the ones i need to hook up? and to where?

Re: Ignition switch wiring
 

Does it look like this one?


Attachment 1641024

Top red wire is power wire from engine bay.
just below is red wire, I am not sure where it goes. I think it is full time hot also.
clockwise 2 brown wires are for the brake warning light. One from the master cylinder and the other goes to the cluster brake warning light.

Two greens are temp sensor light one from the engine LH head and the other goes to the cluster for the temp light. These are not used on gauge clusters with a temperature gauge.

bottom pink is the ignition wire to the cab side of the firewall block to the distributor. It also feeds the fuse panel and the cluster panel.

Purple wire is starter solenoid wire. The larger brown and smaller brown at 10 o*clock are the accessory terminal wires. The large one goes to the fuse panel for the flasher power, heater fan, wiper motor and the smaller one goes to the inside of the cab firewall block and on to the external voltage regulator.


There are plenty of battery drain threads on the forums and how to troubleshoot them but some quick checks are.

Unhook the negative battery terminal and connect a test light or better yet a multimeter that reads at least 10 amps, between the cable and the negative post on the battery . If you have a drain you should get a light or a amp reading. Make sure the key switch is off and no lights or anything is on.
Start with the alternator plug and output wire by disconnecting them one at a time. If the light stays on unplug the regulator. Then the horn relay in the cab by the steering column.

These are the common Key off drains. The brake light circuit and the four way flashers as well as the interior lights are also key off circuits.

Then I go to the key on circuits starting at the key switch, unplug it and make sure all the wire are going to the right terminals. This step should turn off the light. If the light stays on then you would make sure the key is off and start pulling fuses on the fuse panel one at a time watching for the light to go out or the meter reading to drop. When that happens check the circuit and you'll know what the drain is.

Since you just worked on the key switch, that's most likely where the drain is.
Recheck the wiring connections to be sure they are correct.

Re: Ignition switch wiring
 

Thanks VetteVet thats great info. I've also got a slow battery drain and I think you just solved it.

So here's what I've got. Big red to big red. Purple to purple. Gray to pink. Big brown to big brown. Little brown(on the same branch as big brown) is going to possibly purple(maybe brown) wire with a white stripe. And then two little browns to two little browns.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Ignition switch wiring
 

Well you have a lot of wires there so let's see if we can sort them out.

Starting with the large red wire and the smaller red wire. The large red wire is the main power input to the key switch. It is hot from the power junction in the engine bay where the alternator, Battery, and regulator meet. It provides power for all the switched accessories in the truck.

The smaller red wire I believe is the ignition wire for the coil and the power wire for the fuse panel that is controlled by the ignition switch.
You might be able to confirm this by checking the small red wire for power with the key off and then on. Look for IGN on the key switch where it connects. If so that would be connected to a pink wire. I haven't a clue where the white(gray) wire connects but if the smaller red wire is from the IGN, on the key, it might connect with the pink wire instead of the gray/white one. It looks white in the picture.


The purple wire goes to the purple wire and is for the starter solenoid. You should be able to see and ST on the key switch where it connects. It should run to the neutral start switch on the steering column.

The large brown wire with the smaller brown /white wire goes to the ACC on the key switch. They share that terminal so they can get power from the large battery wire without getting power from the IGN wire when the key is in the ACC position.

The large brown wire is the power feed wire for the fuse block flashers and wiper motor and others.
The small brown/white wire goes to the inside of the cab block behind the fuse panel and then connects to a brown wire on the engine side of the block which runs to the external voltage regulator for the alternator.

the two small brown wires are for the brake warning light (not emergency). One comes from the master cylinder proportioning valve to the key switch and connects with the other one which goes to the dash cluster plug to pin 2 in the cluster plug.

This wire runs to the key switch to allow the key switch to ground the wires when the key is in the start position to ground the warning bulb and turn on the light for a test to see if it is not blown. No positive is connected here, it only grounds the wires.

The two green wires that are dangling do the same thing to the temperature sender light wire to test it's bulb. If you have a gauge dash with a temperature gauge then you won't need these two wires.

That just leaves the gray/white wire? Can you tell what it is connected to on the key switch?

This diagram shows the key switch and all the wires that go to it. The arrows point to the brown wire and the brown/white striped wire.

Attachment 1641848



This one shows the Red wires teeing to the power loads that they supply and the pink wires teeing to the ignition coil and the fuse panel.

Attachment 1641849

I'm pretty sure that the gray wire from my picture is equivalent to the pink wire you're talking about. Just a variation in the color.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Ignition switch wiring
 

Possibly, can you test it like I detailed for the large and small red wires, and you need to find out where the pink wire goes that the gray wire is connected to now? It might help if you can see what the terminal designation is for the gray wire where the gray wire connects to the IGN switch?

Do you have a solution on the other wires and where they go?
Do you have a gauge dash or a lighted dash?
Any more on the battery drain?

I went over the wiring comparing it to my friends truck and I seem to have it right. Battery drain is still very much a problem. When I have the battery charged up to 12.5 volts and then I hook it up to the cables the battery plummets to low single digits in a matter of seconds
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Ignition switch wiring
 

Here's a picture of the connector. Going clockwise reads. Ign. Sol. Acc. Bat. G2. G1.