For whatever reason, my van has had one issue after another since mid summer. Yesterday it learned a new trick.

I went to start it up after leaving a restaurant about 45 minutes away from home and everything was fine - until I turned the key. Then everything went dead. It wasn't that the battery was dead, more like it was suddenly unhooked. Power to everything was off. I wiggled the wheel (don't know why), and then it came back on, and started. It was fine after that.

This morning I went to leave the house around 6:00 (it was dark). I unlocked it and all the interior lights come on, bright and normal. Everything is fine - until I turned the key. Then it was all dead again. Again, messing around with the steering wheel, and it starts. The idle surged in an odd way when I turned the lights on, but then behaved normal. The same thing repeated when I left the gym to go to work, except that it was a lot more difficult to get to start. I shut it off at work, and it's dead again (I tried restarting it to see if it would). I think I'll have to take a company truck home tonight...

Anyway, my initial thought is that it is the ignition switch. Not the lock tumbler, but the switch itself. I had to replace one on my '91 Capri a few years back with the same symptoms. It appears to be the same part as well. But since it seems to be impacted by the steering wheel movement, this seems likely. What doesn't make sense to me, though, is why the lights are affected. When it goes dead, the head/running lights are all out as well. It isn't limited to just items that are switched with the ignition. Could it be a stupid as a weak battery?

 

surprised the intermittent doesn't show up with the bounce of driving?

several wiring cable plugs in the steering column.
ign./start switch
2 to stalk controls with multiple intertied operations.

steering column also can put strain on under dash cables to PCM and all the major veh electrical systems.
i'd look for a loose plug/socket.

any dash or steering column work done recently?

 

No, none. A year and a half ago, I replaced the clockspring in attempt to fix the cruise control. Didn't help, turned out to be a connector at the brake pedal switch, so I put the original clockspring back in. That's the last time I had the steering column apart. The most recent work on the van was plugs/wires two weeks ago, oh, and a headlight bulb just a few hours before this started.

I will note that the door chime has intermittantly turned on even with the key out for a while now. Sometimes tilting the wheel made it stop. Sometimes hitting the wheel rim made it stop. That's part of why I was leaning toward ignition switch - or wiring feeding the switch. It seems to be in the "start" position of the switch, but I can't say that 100%. It has not, however, shown any tendancy to cut the ignition once running.

 

I suggest ign. switch. switches of US cars/trucks turn all exept of PCM and ignition circuits when starter is actuated. si we get toasted contacts, so just replace switch with new

 

I just went outside and restarted it. This time it took playing with the shifter to get it respond. That at least allowed me to pull it into the garage here so I can work on it. Once I got it inside, I was able to cycle it on and off several times without issue. I dunno. I'll check it in the morning when I come back in and see what it does. I do think that the ignition switch is the place to start. It just seems like it is getting hung up in between "on" and "start". It's only a $20 part anyway, so its not a big loss if it doesn't fix it...

 

Just a thought, have you checked the battery connections yet?

 

I had a similar problem on mine when I got it; sometimes it would act dead. Then after 1 -5 mins I would try the key again & she would go. Headlights would come on but no starter motor.
Eventually I traced the problem to a loose connection (nut) on the starter relay.

You may need to get the DMM out & prod around a bit! the ignition switch looks like it maybe the culprit, you could try the hotwire method when it plays up! I would also definately check & clean the battery terminals, since you also have lost power to the headlights. It does not sound like a typical bad battery scenario, more like a bad connection or relay somewhere.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if it were that simple? That was the first thing I did after bringing it inside. However, as soon as I got the van into the garage, it started behaving normally. I haven't been able to reproduce the fault again. I had to play around with the wheel/shifter to get it to start to drive into the garage, but once inside it seemed happy. Maybe it just wanted in...

The terminals didn't look bad or corroded, but I cleaned them anyway. Can't hurt, right? I've since cycled the ignition a number of times without problem. I'm not sure if I should trust it now or just replace the ignition switch for piece of mind...

 

sounds like my intermittent spark ignition problem 2 years ago, chased it for months

 

Rick,
Does your van have a column shifter? If so, the problem source might be the neutral start switch circuit or the actual neutral switch itself. I had a similar incident some years back with a Taurus and jiggling the shifter lever would unstick the switch. When the switch was open, it was a totally dead appearing car. Nothing would work. First time it happened, I thought someone had stolen my battery.

 

Yes, the van's a '97, so column shift. Is the neutral switch on the steering column, or on the transmission (that's where it is on my Mazda)?

 

The actual switch is on the transmission - at least all versions up to '97. I imagine it is still in the same location. It is found on the driver's side, just above the intermediate band adjuster bolt. About the size of your finger with a 4 or 5 wire connector. It just screws into the transmission case and is easily replaced with a thin wall socket. It is just a simple on/off plunger style switch. Either the plunger gets worn and hangs up or the switch contacts can go bad. Toss in some moisture in the connector, corroded connector or damaged wiring loom and there are endless possibilities. I just had mine off during a tranny rebuild and it had some obvious corrosion on the connectors but worked just fine. I did not notice a weather seal as found on other connectors which I find surprising, given its location and propensity for moisture contact.

 

Well, I swapped out the ignition switch yesterday. It wasn't real complicated. So far so good. I'm probably just imagining it, but it seems to start faster now. It used to have to crank for several seconds before it fire, now it lights off almost immediately, or at least I'm perceiving it to...

 

glad to hear that rick
winter is roaring down on us, not the time for starting problems

sure love the Aero AWD in winter driving, more sure footed than my Dodge 4wdr diesel on icy pavement