Technical '57 Chevy ignition switch? issue

Was driving my '57 Chevy 210 today and the car randomly shut off at 55 mph. Not just the engine, everything including the radio just suddenly cut out.

I put it into neutral to coast, and I tried to re-start it. Apparently the car will not crank in neutral, only in park. However, clicking the key did bring the radio and whatnot back on.

Coasted to a stop, put it in park, it re-started immediately, and I have not been able to replicate the issue. The car wasn't hot, I only maybe drove it 3 miles from home when it cut out.

Would that point to an ignition switch issue? I can't see how it could be fuel or distributor related, since the radio cut out when the car died, and it came back with the key. It's so hard to know when it doesn't stay broken and I can't seem to replicate it. And new '57 Chevy ignition switches are kinda pricey and also not exactly known to be good.

Anyone have thoughts? Even suggestions on what to look for first or places to test would be helpful. I'm much more of a body man than mechanic.

 

the ignition switch in my 55 did that a couple times...the switch was coming apart (the phenolic piece with the contacts was loose in the main pot metal housing).

The time it went off, then back on again and went POW was exciting, all that fuel in the mufflers lit off when it started running again

took it out, pressed it back together and crimped firmly, was good after that.

 

Pretty hard to find if you can't duplicate the problem. Since the radio went out when the problem occurred, I'd start with the key and radio on and start by jiggling the key to see if that had any effect. If it doesn't, I'd try moving the wiring around behind the ignition switch and keep moving wiring while moving back toward the battery. It could be anywhere between the battery and the ignition switch. When the radio goes dead, you are close to the problem.

 

Moriarity and Squirrel gave you pretty solid answers. Something in the feed to the switch or the switch lost connection for long enough for the engine (and everything else) to quit.
Jaracer gave you the method that will probably help figure it out. Figure out what is loose or worn out or corroded.

 

Thanks for the quick responses everyone. Some good advice, gives me a direction to start moving in, I really appreciate it.

Just got the shop cleaned out and the car pulled in, going to futz with it for a while tonight and/or tomorrow. I will post updates with whatever I find, maybe it'll be helpful for some future troubleshooter.

 

I am a self appointed automotive electrical genius. when I had similar yet different issues with my old 49 Chevy sedan with a custom all red rewire I got my meter out and started checking voltage in and voltage out on everything I could reach. turned out to be the push button starter switch. I fixed it with a new parts store ignition switch that looked like it was for a forklift and left the push button unhooked.

 

Make sure next time out on the road you carry an easy clip jump wire

 

What song was on the radio? Maybe the car did not like it?

 

Assume the radio only comes on when key is on? Have any electric gauges, did they drop out as well?

 

No bulk head connector on tri five harness. Wire passes thru hole in firewall. Wires on ign switch are individual. They do get loose. You can take each wire off an slightly crimp the sides of the Packard 56 series terminals. Wire on ballast resistor can loosen also. Have had good luck with American Auto switches. What steering column is in the car. Neutral safety is adjustable.

 

Had a 55 that did something similar--couldn't find the problem so of course I spent the big $ for a new one. When I took out the old one, noticed one of the connectors on the back seemed loose so I kinda fixed it and just tried it-perfect. Put the new one in, took off the fix, and tried it--no start. Fixed it again and perfect. Left the new one in but it had a different key, should have used the old one again that didn't have a separate key. Hell, it was only money that I could use for food, insurance, etc. and other silly stuff.

 

Shucks, just use a hideaway toggle switch.

Ben

 

@Squablow The plug [female] on the back of the switch could be guilty

I would also be looking at the main feed wire connector at the starter solenoid
These old Chevy's have a "Total loss" ignition circuit. [there isn't any fuses/breaker between the battery and coil]

Also check the ignition wire from the switch to the coil AND the main feed from the starter to the ignition switch!. These are common to be melted [especially with OEM electric wipers which are connected to the coil ]
You will need to unwrap this piece of harness. The easiest method is to unplug this piece of harness from the switch and pull it through until the plug is hard up against the grommet /firewall hole and unwrap / rewrap it in the engine bay.

I also installed a fusible link at the starter motor on mine

attached is a colour coded wiring diagram [57Chevy's are dead simple]

 

If everything is as GM wired it in 57 the power going to the switch comes from the starter battery terminal (black 12 gauge).

 

I pulled the front seat out of the car today to get a better view under the dash. Haven't found a smoking gun yet but haven't had a lot of time to pick at it, should have some more time tomorrow. I did notice the headlight switch is very loose but I doubt that would have any effect.

@Kerrynzl I will check on those wires for sure, that's more good info to have. Also thanks for the schematic. I have one of those in a book but it's black and white, this is much more helpful.

This is something I hadn't thought of but will definitely be doing. My car has a stock Powerglide column in it which would put the Neutral position one click down from Park, instead of 2 clicks with the TH350. It would be good to know that I could re-start from neutral while coasting if this does happen again, if I can't find an obvious smoking gun here.

Was unable to replicate the issue again just by wiggling some wires but I'm far from done, I'll post more updates when I get to mess with it more, should be tomorrow night.

I really do appreciate all of the responses, this is helpful stuff for a novice mechanic like me.

 

I appreciate all of the good advice I was given/things to look at. Today I spent some more time on the '57 since the weather has finally cooled off.

I looked the wiring over top to bottom, including the wiring to the starter. Under the dash, under the hood, it all looks great, and repeated wiggling of wires could not replicate the problem. The only thing I did find was the ring connector at the starter solenoid was poorly installed, apparently it was only crimped on over the wires and not the insulation at the end so it could flex around easily, after repeated wiggling I was able to break it clean off. I replaced it properly and it feels much more solid. However, this was the "S" terminal, which I think only matters when the ignition switch is in the Start position, correct? Like, there's no way this could have cut the car out when it was running? It's the post nearest the engine block, if that wasn't obvious from the crappy pictures.




Certainly a nice thing to find before it fails, but I don't understand how this could have been my issue. The other connections at the starter look great and feel great. I followed those wires back up through the firewall to the ignition switch and it all looks good, no chafing areas, nothing burnt or loose.

Under the dash, everything looked great too, and nothing seemed loose or damaged, no amount of wiggling wires could get the car to cut out again. I did tighten up the loose headlight switch, although again, I can't see how that would have caused any issues.

I did buy an NORS Made in the USA neutral safety switch with the correct pattern and installed it, so now it will re-start in neutral. (Some of the new repop stuff seems to be junk right out of the box, so I bought this one off of eBay). Again, I can't see how this would have caused the issue, but it's nice to have it functional, would be much easier to recover if the same scenario happens again.




So now I don't know what else I can do. Everything works, I can't replicate the issue, there were no smoking guns or obvious causes. Fixed a couple other things that likely would have given me trouble in the future, but no evidence of what made it do what it did.

I guess I'm going to drive it around some more and see what happens. If it stays working, I guess I'll never know. If it fails completely, at least then I can properly diagnose it. If it does the thing again exactly the same, at least now I can restart it while it's still rolling. I don't know what else I can do at this point.

 

I wonder if in its past life someone put a circuit breaker in the power harness? Just a thought.

 

Terminals on back of the switch can come loose. My car starts in park only. Bought a tilt aftermarket column with column shift. Easy to install! But no provision for safety switch. Safet switch is on the turbo 350. Bolted to the pan flange. I have used the tri five ignition switch on several cars. Like the bezel that holds it into place