ignition switch

I've come to the conclusion after reading all the previous threads about stalling blazers and dashboard lights going out, that my problem is the ignition switch. Can any of you guys tell me how to replace this thing. I see the black box under the cylinder and have followed the harness, but how do I get that thing out of there.

thanks
JKdon

Look here...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=177427

I had the same thing happen a year ago on my 97 blazer. I took the black box off(a pain) and took it apart(Patience) and the contacts had carbon build up on them. I cleaned them off with a pencil eraser and put it back together and It worked fine since then. I'm cheap so i fixed it myself but you can replace the wiring harness for about $150.00 or less. Let me know if you need more help

here is some instructuons to help you. It really isn't to hard to do. This is fresh in my mind since i did this tuesday. Im not a machanic but I have played one on TV, so forgive my ignorance on proper names.
First disconnect the battery. Then take the two Torx Screws out of the bottom cover of the stering column. next, Remove the top cover. there are two torx like screws but there male instead of female one is behind the black box. If you don't have the right tool a small socket will turn it.Sorry I don't remember the size. When removing the top cover you will need to cut the bottom side where the keyswitch is or else you will have to remove it(a big pain). There are two more of the torx like screws that hold the black box on but they are hard to get to.
Again if you don't have the right tool then you can take it out with a flat screwdriver spinning the sides of the screw down and a pair of needle nose pliers will help to. When you get the screws off try to cut a grove in the end of it with a hack saw. This will allow you to put it back in with a flathead screwdriver. With the black box now off pop of the top cover opposite of the side the wires are in. be careful not to lose the 6 springs that will fall out. Next remove the ring around the circle end of the box now you can open the box up. there should be 6 L shaped contacts in there be sure to remember where they go . There are 8 spots but only 6 are needed. On the end of the contacts you will see a circle if it is black then theres your problem. Clean them off and put the box back together. The cyclinder is the hardest part you will have to hold it in place with a screwdriver and get the spring in the right place while putting the cover back on. Once you get the box back together(be sure to put the springs in) connect your battery and use a screwdriver to see if it cranks. You will see what I'm talking about. This way if you do something wrong you wont have to take everything back off. If this works then you have fixed it. if not it might be a bad wire in the harness. good luck and if you need more info then just ask

Ignition switch - white connector - how to remove?

Hi, I'm working on replacing the ignition switch in our '97 Blazer. I have the steering wheel column covers off. Above the key tumbler there is a white connector that must be removed. It is small and has two wires that go to the ignition switch. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to pull out this white connector. I've tugged on it from different angles.

I looked at the replacement switch and notice that the bottom of its white connector is a button that can be depressed. I guess this is what signals the ignition switch to work when you turn the key tumbler. I hope this helps describe this connector that I need to remove.

Barpat, thanks for the info about cleaning the connector but I want to try replacing the entire switch.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-- recurve

It should pull right out or might have a locking mechanism that you will have to hold open to pull the connector.

Don't just tug on the wires to the connector, look for a clipping mechanism.

Thanks BlazerLT. There must be something to disengage or a special wiggling technique. I posted a picture and more info in the following thread:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=287636

Thanks for helping me,
-- recurve

when taking the white connector off you have to turn and pull at the same time toward the passenger side or to the right. I still don't understand why you want to mess with the ignition switch itself when you explained an electrical problem. there is no need to replace the switch, it just turns some gears that turns the cylinder in the black box.
Have Fun!

You should do some more reading becasue this switch box can render a truck unstartable.

Hi barpat, I think you have me confused with someone else. You told me I might want to remove the ignition switch and clean the carbon from the connectors.

BlazerLT… a lot of places on the forum people suggest replacing the ignition switch. Right now, our '97 Blazer doesn't start so that's why I'm replacing the switch.

I got the white connector off. Here is the deal. When looking above the steering wheel (from the ceiling looking down) you will see two small pieces of aluminum holding the white connector from above. Between these two small pieces of aluminum is an open space. You will discover that there is a small plastic lever attached to the white connector. You will need a jeweler's screw driver (or something thin and strong) to stick in that cavity and push on the plastic lever.

I pushed with the screw driver on the side of the cavity closest to the engine block (instead of the side close to my stomach) and the white connector started to rotate and popped out quite easily. Not much force was needed at all. When looking from above, the white connector rotated out with a clockwise motion on a plane parallel to road.

Thanks,
-- recurve

I was responding to barpat96.

Its definitely worth replacting that switch recurve, I tried the cleaning of contacts and that helped for a month, until it left me on the side of the road, thanks for all the responses guys, this got me back on the road for 71 bucks at advanced auto

jkdon

The problem i thought you had was carbon buildup on the metal connectors inside the black box. As to it not lasting, all I know is that my blazer would lose all power(even while driving down the road) and sometimes turning the key several times would help until one ay it didn't crank at all. I took apart the switch box(Black Box) and cleaned the contacts and its worked fine since then. Thats been over a year ago and i haven't had any problems. Maybe I got lucky or maybe I experinced some thing different. The Question I want to know is why carbon buildup occurs on the contacts. I was told that Smoking in a car is the culprit but I dismissed that since I dont smoke

Recurve, please let me know if you get your blazer fixed and what the problem was.

Hi barpat, I'll let you know when I get it fixed. You and the rest of the guys on this forum have been a great help, I'll definitely keep you posted. At the moment I'm waiting on an E3 external torx socket that I ordered from http://www.lara.com/

It will probably be another 3 or 4 days before I get the part. I tried to grip the two torx screws that hold the ignition switch with needle nose pliers to no avail.

And yes, those same symptoms that happened to you barpat happened to our '97 Blazer. I do not know if the previous owners of our vehicle smoked, they might have. $70 is nothing to sneeze at. I seriously thought about cleaning the contacts like you did but I think that the carbon may mysteriously come back. I'm hoping this new starter will keep these problems at bay a bit longer. It might be that some manufacturers of the starter built them better than others.

Thanks to everyone,
-- recurve

Unless that external torx is a narrow deep well socket, you won't get it into the top screw. Also, removing the lockset will help some for clearance.

Hmm… you're right Mikado, there is not much room in there. I don't know if that E3 socket I ordered will fit.
-- recurve

Just did one this afternoon, took an hour and a half. I think 45 minutes of that was fightin' with that screw. Hadn't done one in over a year and when I saw it I remembered. After the expletives of my memory, I finally got it out.

Good Luck!

why is so many people having this problem? Maybe this is something GM should look at. It could be a safety issue especially when you break down on a highway.

The one I changed was not a Blazer, it was a '99 Suburban. There was a TSB out on it and guess what? The part number was the same as the Blazer. This switch is also used in the C/K series as well. The original part number, according to the dealer has been superceded. It cost $113 jobber price with a list of $151.

still a GM part. I did a quick fix, whose to say that it won't happen again but for the time i had to get it fixed for as little as possible. I heard that some type of electrical lubricate will help prevent the buildup. Recurve, if you replace the dreaded black box maybe you can donate the old one to science

Our '95 Blazer so far has not had this ignition switch problem (it is our '97 Blazer with the problem). There is an anti-corrosive substance that some people put on their battery connectors - I wonder if that could help defray the carbon buildup? I won't throw out the old ignition switch. I'll keep it around and if it has carbon buildup, I might clean it and think of it as a spare.

Take care,
-- recurve

You could try a shot of canned electrical contact cleaner. It has solvents that will clear corrosion and carbon, making contacts good as new. Though you still may want to burnish them with 1500 grit paper first to get off the tough stuff. The contact cleaner leaves behind a very thin film of lubrication that helps to also keep the contact surfaces clear. Hey, if you are shade-tree style fixin', might as well try some dirty old tricks. :biggrin:

Dielectric grease may help fight off the carbon demons.

Again, excellent thinking! That is exactly what is in the electrical contact cleaner. The solvent evaporates and leaves the *lightest* of coatings of dielectric grease.

Too much grease: the carbon and gunk it collects will eventually lodge between contacts in chunks. Over-application of grease leads to inhibiting the wiping motion of contact surfaces because of a ring of gunk and half dried grease + contaminants surrounding them.

Once the switch is treated with solvent and sealed into it's housing - there should be no reason to even think about it again for several more years.

BTW, congrats on your mystery thunk and rattle article, BlazerLT. It solved a mystery thump I had on the passenger side that felt like it was coming from the floorboards. That is what I call detective work!

Thanks bro, you should see the feedback coming in over it.

And yes, mine sounded like it was coming from the passenger floor board also.

You guys provide a veritable treasure trove of information.

You know what I was going to use to clean the contacts? the eraser tip of a pencil. Ha! that is what I used when racing slot cars as a little boy when their contacts got dirty. I'm such a dweeb. The can of electrical contact cleaner sounds like the way to go.

For those who don't know, I think the "mystery thump" article wolfox and BlazerLT are discussing is the following thread:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=302656

There is another thread on the S10 Forums that deals with a mystery clunk noise but the resolution they suggest is lubricating the steering stops:
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62350&page=1&pp=30

Take care,
-- recurve

Yeah I heard that the pencil eraser is better than using sandpaper. I used sandpaper and the eraser both seemed to work.

Hey Mikado, just as you suspected, that E3 socket I got was too big around to fit in that tight crevace. I believe that the E3 is the right size, but there is no room to get the socket down there. I can't figure out how to remove those two external torx screws.

Any advice appreciated. I read what some other people said but I can't figure it out.

Thanks,
-- recurve

You can losen it with a flat screwdiver. just push down the grooves on the side, like your adjusting the back brakes, one groove at a time. after you get them off, cut a groove in the top with a hacksaw so you can put it back in with a screwdriver.

also i think the torx screws that hold the bottom stering column cover will also fit. I never tried but if you can somehow attach another screw to it you might be able to get it.

Best of luck
--The Shade Tree Wanna Be

Thanks barpat. I tried using screwdrivers but I just couldn't exert enough force. I eventually got them off today by using a needle nosed pliers with a bent tip. Somehow, for me, that allowed me to exert just enough force to get those external torx screws out of there!

Now I'm trying to pull out the other end of the ignition switch that is close to the brake petals. I was able to loosen the bolt that is securing it with a 7mm socket. Now I'm trying to pull that plastic module out. I'm using two hands from both the left and right side but so far haven't been able to remove it.

That's where I am now :-)
thanks everyone,
-- recurve

Phew! I got the ignition switch completely off. I thought I had completely loosened the center bolt… turns out I wasn't close. I turned it many more times and the black plastic module just popped out. I'm now about to hookup the new ignition switch.

Thanks,
-- recurve

Be patient and do it right.

Time for a happy dance

http://homepage.mac.com/recurve/img/bear2.gif

I did it. I really did it! Thanks to everyone's help on this board, I replaced the ignition switch on our '97 Blazer and now it runs great. No problems starting the engine. As far as I can tell, the problem where the dash lights fail to turn on and the fuel pump can't be heard (when the ignition key is turned half way) are now trials and tribulations of the past. It seems to all just work perfectly, every time.

Of course, I might just be lucky today. If things change over the course of the week, I'll let you know; however, I'm pretty sure this fixed the starting and dying problems we've been having.

Oh, and barpat, I did save the old ignition switch but I haven't disassembled it to see if the contacts have carbon build up. I'd like to do it but there are other things I need to get done before winter sets in.

Thanks,
-- recurve

Nice to hear it is fixed.

Amazing how a small switch like that can disable a whole truck.

If I may stick my nose in here with a situation...

My '97 Blazer does this neat trick where when I turn the key, the starter "hesitates" like it's not going to crank (as if it's not getting enough juice from the battery). So far, it hasn't failed to rotate the engine recently,but it does make me a little nervous. Thing is it only does this about once every 10 days or so, the rest of the time, she fires right up like she should.
Did replace the ignition switch almost 3 years ago when it failed. The alternator is about 1.5 years old & the battery was replaced just this past August.
I hear the fuel pump "hum" prior to starting-started listening for this after I pulled a dumba** move & ran the tank almost dry on the highway. Don't know what the deal is...


Hey...if I may add...this forum is GREAT, by the way! Wish I had found it a few years back...
-Mike

Sounds like you have a bad starter.

The hum is normal on startup, why do you think it is not? That noise is the fuel pump prining the system.

i had the same problem with my blazer a while back. it would go to start and catch a dead spot then start after that. it was my starter. get it done now before you get stranded 100 miles away from your house, speaking from experience. happened to me 5 months ago.

Good advice.

I know the pump humming (wasn't that a song?) is normal; just threw that in there to let you know that the pump was working, to aid in the ol' deductive reasoning process.
(not trying to sound like a smarta**, hope it doesn't look that way in print)

I think I'll do the starter like you guys suggested, since I'm in a maintenance frenzy this week, anyway. I guess I kinda thought it was that, but the way my mind works, if something's broken , it won't work at all. I should know by now that automobiles aren't an "all-or-nothing" deal until you're on the highway....

Thanks!
-Mike

Tip about non-OEM starters…

I've been reading Jim Allen's "Chevy and GMC pickup performance handbook." He talks about the "Mean Green" starter, here is the quote:

"This Mean Green starter is six pounds lighter than the stock starter, and because of a 2.5-horsepower motor, ball bearings, and a 4.4:1 gear reduction, it delivers three times the cranking torque. Because it's considerably smaller than the OE-style unit, it fits around headers better. According to MG Industries, this starter will deliver 35,000 starts, compared to the OE 4,500. If you do clutch-out starts on the trail, this could be the starter for you."

Here is the web site:
http://www.mean-green.com/

I replaced the starter in our '97 Blazer about one week before I got this book - darn. This part sounds better than the GM part in every way. Hope this helps.
-- recurve

So the Mean Green is a straight bolt-on replacment?

Couldn't get their site to load here at work..does it require any changes to the battery/alternator etc?

if it is as good as advertised, it's worth the money!
-Mike

Looks like it's $299.00. Yeouch

Get a rebuild and MAKE SURE that it is installed right and it is engaging the flywheel properly and is very quiet.

If it is noisy, you will have to have it shimmed.

If you don't do this, you will destroy your flywheel.

Trust me, I went through the 1000 repair, you don't want to go there.

I just wanted to thank all who had posted info. on ignition switches!! Our 95 Blazer kept stalling and then the dash lights went out- my husband suspected that we needed a new ignition switch- I got online and started researching- I showed him the suggestion on cleaning the carbon off the connectors- IT WORKED- The blazer is running great!
Once again THANKS to ALL!!

you are very welcome.