[alfa] Tims Spider no-start

[adoherty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Tim wrote:

From: "Tim Verrall" <tim@domain.elided>
Subject: [alfa] Re - Ignition Switch

What are the symptoms of this ? I am asking because I am having one or two
issues with an '86 spider and have started suspecting the ignition switch
myself.

What I see is:
1.    Sometimes when I turn things on, the volt meter only goes up to about
10
or 11 volts. Turn it off and back on and all looks fine. Engine always cranks
but sometimes doesn't spark. Try a few times and off she goes.
2.    While driving sometimes the temp and brake lights will come on and fade
away. Sometimes while driving all the warning lights will come on and the car
dies. This makes the dash look as though I just turned everything off and
back
on. Pull over and restart seems to work everytime.
--------------

Tim, you might try opening the panel below the steering wheel (same for fuse
access). With the key on jiggle the wiring loom to the bottom right of the
steering column. If you get an on/off symptom, you have a loose connection
there. The power goes from the ignition swith to the rest of the car through
here. On my '87 Veloce, the "hot wire" had worked loose out of the connection
and would give me an intermittant problem. A few minutes under the dash
solved
things. Hopefully this is the problem, and not the switch.

Adam



--
Adam S. Doherty
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of Pennsylvania--School of Medicine
360 CRB
415 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA  19104   USA

Phone: 215-898-7806
Fax: 215-898-8780
Email: adoherty@domain.elided
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