57 Tries to start in the off position

[Tom H.]

The battery in my 57 went dead when the cutoff was left connected after a test drive.

In the course of looking for the source of the power drain it got worse. The starter now cranks when the key is in the off position, stops cranking in the on position and cranks in the start position.

The purple wire from the solenoid is connected to the battery connection on the ignition switch.

The AIM shows the purple wire on the right of the two connections which is the R, the other one is S. I mention that because the R & S labels are on the solenoid but not the AIM.

I'm concentrating on the solenoid because I don't know anywhere else that would have power when the ignition switch is off.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Tom H.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

Correction: the purple wire is connected to the solenoid tab on the ignition switch

[Adam S.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

SOUNDS LIKE SWITCH UNDER DASH ,PULL THE THREE CONNECTOR OFF BACK OF SWITCH & SEE IF IT TRIES TO START........IF SO THEN THE
solenoid OR START WIRING HARNESS MAY BE BAD.

[Peter L.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

I'd double check on the switch as suggested. Is the switch an original Delco-Remy or an aftermarket replacement? If it's an aftermarket, I've heard some not so good things about the aftermarket ignition switches. Pete

[Tom H.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

I think the short is in fuse panel. I pulled the accessory fuse and it stopped acting up. There are no other fuses currently in the panel. I thought I cleaned it up but I'll recheck it.

[John H.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

The AIM shows the purple wire on the right of the two connections which is the R, the other one is S. I mention that because the R & S labels are on the solenoid but not the AIM.

Tom -

The purple wire goes to the "S" terminal on the solenoid, and the green wire goes on the other "C" or "R" terminal; "S" energizes the starter, and "C" or "R" bypasses the ballast resistor and sends a full 12 volts to the coil (+) terminal.

[Adam S.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

Tom, is your wiring all original or stock factory wiring system? If it is stock than the fuse panel should have two wires going to it, one red & onepink wire. The red is for accessories & goes to the very top center of fuse panel(marked Fog LP / spot Lp) & pink goes to bottom(below Heator) left buss bar connector to power your add on options like heator, brake light ,radio, etc... The bottom Pink wire is powered on & off directly by the ing. switch, the red is hot all the time. If you swap the hot red & pink wires on original fuse panel it would not cause your car to start because its powered is derived from Ing. switch. If wires are swapped your accessories like Heator, Radio, Brake warning light etc. would stay powered up all the time with Key off! If your wiring is custom or not as factory configeration skip all the above...........

[Tom H.]

Re: 57 Tries to start in the off position

Adam,

The problem was that I had both the red and the pink wires on the bottom of the fuse panel so I was getting power through the red and into the pink and back through the switch (and wreaking havok). Somehow I had looked at the panel a bunch of times and didn't see that.

John,

I had it backwards Saturday the purple wire is on the S.

Thanks for the help, #4176 is alive and kicking. I was on the road for about an hour and it ran great!