Mondial ignition switch removal - Again

A little over a year ago someone asked how to remove an ignition switch from a Mondial 3.2 and no response was ever posted. I now find myself needing to do the same thing, I think, on an 1982 Mondial 8.

My problem appears to be a voltage drop across the switch. With the ignition in the "On" position (car not running) there is 12 volts coming out of the switch to the coils (measured at the ignition switch connector). But..........when cranking, the voltage drops to around 9v and it will NOT start, it turns over fine, just won't start.

I have put a jumper in the ignition switch connector from the "power in" to the "power out to the coils" and it cranks and runs fine. I have also checked the power coming into the switch and there is no voltage drop there when cranking.

I am thinking the connections within the switch itself need cleaning but how do I go about getting into it???

Any suggestions, other than a hammer & chisel, will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul

 

Javelin,

That fix assumes the voltage drop is in the wiring between the switch and starter. I am 99.999% sure my problem is a voltage drop within the switch itself.

I could still use some suggestions on how to get to said switch so I can attempt to clean the contacts inside.

Thanks,

Paul

 

Miltonian,

My problem is slightly different but you have given me an "if all else fails" idea.

I could install a toggle switch to activate the coils, and everything else normally activated when the ignition switch is in the "Run" position. I could then still use the ignition switch to activate the starter. The starter has always worked but low voltage to the coils keeps the engine from starting.

Paul

 

VICTORY!!!

Thanks to Rifledriver.

The switch will come out without removing the steering wheel & hub and, more importantly, without a hammer & chizel. There is a very small pin/plunger about 3mm in diameter on the side of the lock cylinder. With the ignition key in just the right position pushing the pin will allow the cylinder to come out of the column. It comes out toward the key. Feeding the wires through the housing as the switch is removed is no piece of cake but is a damn sight easier than taking the column apart.

I will try to get into it to clean the contacts tomorrow evening.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.

Paul

 

Birdman,

Apparently the master switch was a problem sometime in the Mondial's past. It has been bypassed.

Testing points only to the ignition switch. No power drop before the switch, no drop after the switch, definate drop through the switch.

I will let you know what happens when and if I can clean the contacts inside.

Paul

 

Let’s have three rousing cheers for Ricambi America and Daniel.

Daniel took the time to wade through all the part supersessions for the 1982 Mondial ignition switch to come up with the solution to my main problem. The electrical portion of my switch had gone south (badly burned contact) that caused a voltage drop, that caused VERY poor running about 30 seconds after starting. Finally got to the point of shutting down after 20 seconds due to low voltage to the coils (initially the contact passed the necessary voltage along to the coils but once it heated up (due to the poor connection) the voltage dropped quickly and things started happening, not good things).

I needed an ignition switch, a switch no one had, a switch no longer produced.

Daniel researched the switch and came up with part number 162548. That is the number for an ignition switch for a F355. Turns out it is also a switch for a Mondial 8, Mondial 3.2, Mondial 3.4, a 308, a 328, a 348, well, you get the picture. You need a switch for a Mondial or a 3xx series Ferrari and number 162548 is your switch of choice, your ONLY choice.

For my Mondial, a 1982 Mondial 8, it is not an exact match. The switch itself is a close match and would only require minimal modification to fit in the Mondial housing. The electrical portion however (my main concern) was a very close match. It fit perfectly to the back of the original switch and the only modification necessary was to lengthen the wires.

It would have been very easy to simply say “the switch for your car is no longer produced, sorry” but Daniel took the time (and I would guess not a short period of time) to find me what I needed. Nice to know that the concept of “customer service” is still alive and well.

THANK YOU DANIEL, AND RICAMBI AMERICA !!!!!

Paul

 

alohamickey,

I think I can help clear the confusion. The switch listed on Ricambi's site is the one. It includes the ignition tumbler, door tumblers, keys AND the electrical portion (the part behind the ignition switch with the wires).

What I ended up using was the electrical portion. The switch itself (the key part) would also work but would require some modification to the housing. As the electrical portion was all I really needed I put that on the back of the original switch, a perfect fit by the way. I did need to splice a section of the old wires onto the new pigtail as the original wires are about 20" long and the new ones are only 7 or 8".

Both the old and new switches have 4 wires coming out the back. One other difference between the old and new are the wires for the key alert. You know, the chime or buzzer that goes off when you open the door with the key still in the ignition. The new switch did not have that, or if it did I did not see it.

I will try to post a pic of the new and old switch. The pic of the new switch is slightly misleading as it is still in the housing. I do not have a pic of the new electrical portion as I have just finished installing it. I will try posting a pic of the old one later today.
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Daniel is correct, The whole assembly (switch & housing) will interchange if you are willing to dissamble the column and remove the shear bolt to get the housing out (you will still need to lenghten the wires). I was too lazy. I just took the switch out of the housing.

Doing it the way I did means the new tumbler portion will not work without some modification to the existing housing.

 

Here are some more pics of the "new" tumbler & housing along with the old electrical portion both apart and assembled.

It is a damn shame one cannot buy just the electrical part as that is what fails 90% of the time. FWIW, my problem, burned contacts, was fairly easy to fix once I got the electrical portion apart. I took some very fine sandpaper and cleaned the contacts.

The two halves are held together by 2 brass tubes that are flared on each end. To get it apart I drilled the flare off one end of each tube. Getting it back together is not so easy. You cannot simply put a small screw and nut through it because of the way it mounts on the tumbler. There are two posts on the tumbler that stick into the tubes to center the unit and keep it from rotating. I looked for a brass tube that I could cut and flare but Daniel found the new part before I found the tube. Just my luck, the one time I would come out ahead dealing with a slack supplier I had to call Ricambi America. If Daniel hadn't been so darn quick I would have saved myself $350 (g).

Paul
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