Seymour Snerd
Lifetime Supporter
I'm don't work for NHTSA, I swear it....
At least one of us and possibly three of us have had our starter button wiring fail. For me the reason was a case of very bad wiring practice on the part of the manufacturer. I bring it up becaue this failure could happen any time and leave you stranded.
The starter button terminals are a pair of brass blocks with holes and set screws. They are intended to receive pins. In the case of one of the wires (orange) that pin was properly crimped on and strain-relieved with some heat shrink tubing. The green wire (that goes to the starter) was simply solder-tinned and attached. Solder-tinned wire always breaks quickly with vibration or flexure at the solder-copper boundary.
Checking for and fixing this is relatively easy:
At least one of us and possibly three of us have had our starter button wiring fail. For me the reason was a case of very bad wiring practice on the part of the manufacturer. I bring it up becaue this failure could happen any time and leave you stranded.
The starter button terminals are a pair of brass blocks with holes and set screws. They are intended to receive pins. In the case of one of the wires (orange) that pin was properly crimped on and strain-relieved with some heat shrink tubing. The green wire (that goes to the starter) was simply solder-tinned and attached. Solder-tinned wire always breaks quickly with vibration or flexure at the solder-copper boundary.
Checking for and fixing this is relatively easy:
- Removed the small dash panel just to the left of the steering wheel.
- Reach up behind the start button and unscrew the 7/8" nut holding it to the dash. In my case it was finger tight and I as able to loosen it with a finger tip on either side. Failing that you may need to cut the first couple inches off a cheap 7/8" open end wrench.
- Pull the switch out and determine whether both wires have copper pins attached to their ends along with some kind of strain relief right behind.
- If not, an easy way to fix it right then is to install a crimp-on terminals where you have cut down the copper end to a pin about 3/32" wide so that you can fit that into the hole in the brass block. This is easy with a vise and a file.
- The wire itself is 3 mm which is approximately 12 gauge. I was just barely able to fit it into a blue 16-14 terminal. A yellow 10-12 would be better.
- Or you could follow Richard Woerz's lead and modify the switch to use the more common 1/4" "spade" or "fast-on" terminals (see http://www.gt40s.com/forum/superformance-gt40s/34901-start-button.html#post341590).
- Or you could replace the switch with a period-correct Lucas SPB-106 pushbutton switch which already has those terminals. I found one of those for $30 delivered at Englishparts.com. Moss motors has them also. They are from an S1 or S2 XKE, or an AH 100. (Thank you JimmyMac).
- Getting that 7/8" nut started on the switch threads when you can't see it takes some patience.
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