What the heck is this???? Electrical kill switch??
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 12
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From: Englewood Florida
What the heck is this???? Electrical kill switch??
Ok all you home made engineers. I found this under the dash of my 91 coupe. It is a couple of resistors that come off (I haven't traced up under the dash yet) a couple of wires that I think come from the column. The other end goes to that little switch box that is glued to the knee bolster. It has three toggle positions. If I disconnect from the connector, the car won't start. The dash comes on and the radio etc, but it won't turn over. If I plug it back together it takes about 5 mins and then it will start. I am assuming it is a kill switch setup of some kind, but it is such a hodge podge of BS i want to get rid of it before it leaves stranded somewhere.
Anybody seen anything like this and how do I remove it?
Thanks
Anybody seen anything like this and how do I remove it?
Thanks
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 15,926
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What a mess bubba has been there try disconnect the connector and put a jump wire in it. Might be a vats resistor in there. If the jump wire does not work try the resistor as a jump and wait five min.
Last edited by antfarmer2; Aug 6, 2015 at 06:46 PM.
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 12
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From: Englewood Florida
yeah, gonna bring my meter home from work tomorrow and really dig into it. Who ever had this car before me made a mess of the electrical system. Everyday I find some new rats nest. But everyday I get closer to fixin her right.
Can't help it, even with all the stuff I'm going thru I LOVE this car!!
Can't help it, even with all the stuff I'm going thru I LOVE this car!!
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,394
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It appears that the conventional connectors for the lock cylinder to the car harness were used to do a "kill switch" and the VATS "resistance" is in the jumper you see in the first snapshot. If you have a key check the resistance of the chip in the key and then check the resistance of the resistor that's in the loop. I would NOT go so far as to say "bubba" did it. It seems it likely satisfied him (the PO) so I'd say that's all that was required.
If you unplug the connector to the box, remove the "loop" from it's connector and place it in the connector where the box was pigtailed I'd say the car will start. Snapshot is a little small but I'd say the connectors are all the appropriate ones for the wires to the lock cylinder and the proper receptacle for that connector was used.
To get it back to factory you need to check the resistance between the 2 wires coming down the column with the key in the ignition. If that matches what you measured on the key and also the resistor you need to get the column wires connected again to a WHITE/BLK stripe and a PURPLE/WHT stripe wires that should be quite obvious when you look around.
Looks pretty straight forward from here in the "hills of WV".
If you unplug the connector to the box, remove the "loop" from it's connector and place it in the connector where the box was pigtailed I'd say the car will start. Snapshot is a little small but I'd say the connectors are all the appropriate ones for the wires to the lock cylinder and the proper receptacle for that connector was used.
To get it back to factory you need to check the resistance between the 2 wires coming down the column with the key in the ignition. If that matches what you measured on the key and also the resistor you need to get the column wires connected again to a WHITE/BLK stripe and a PURPLE/WHT stripe wires that should be quite obvious when you look around.
Looks pretty straight forward from here in the "hills of WV".
Last edited by WVZR-1; Aug 6, 2015 at 07:10 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2013
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From: Minneapolis Mn
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: Englewood Florida
Yes it actually looks just like that!! Thanks hcbph.
And thanks for the explanation WVZR-1. Now that I know what it is I can fix it and make it the right way so I don't have to worry about failing on me.
Also have watched a couple of videos on the VATS system so now
understand what it is and how i t works. I like the idea of having a kill switch, just not one as buggered up as this one. I will measure my key and then make a proper soldered and shrink wrapped resistor loop.
Very cool.... I am learning so much about my car very fast.
And thanks for the explanation WVZR-1. Now that I know what it is I can fix it and make it the right way so I don't have to worry about failing on me.
Also have watched a couple of videos on the VATS system so now
understand what it is and how i t works. I like the idea of having a kill switch, just not one as buggered up as this one. I will measure my key and then make a proper soldered and shrink wrapped resistor loop.
Very cool.... I am learning so much about my car very fast.
