Ignition Switch

[brijo]

The radio should have two electrical supplies, one permanently live and the other from a switched supply. When I examined the ignition switch I find there is no terminal for an switched auxiliary supply.

I read in a post somewhere that GM part 90052497 was the answer. My local Vaux dealer wanted more than £18 for this. I saw one listed on eBay and I bought it for just over £6 incl p&p. There was an extra terminal 15a as required, but when I metered it, I found that it was only live when the ignition was on. To listen to the radio when parked, I would have needed the ignition on, not what I had in mind. The part number on the package was 90052497OE. Also on the package was "Alternative 90052497". I don't know what the OE suffix means.

I took the switch apart and diagnosed the problem. Inside there is a rotor which shorts various terminals as the key is turned. On the inside, terminal 30, which is the live supply from the battery, had to be extended to one side by soldering on a short piece of 2.5 sq mm copper wire. Also, on the inside, some of the plastic casing beside terminal 15a had to be removed to allow the rotor to make contact with the terminal. It seems this auxiliary facility had been deliberately disabled.

Now the car can be parked, with the key in the AUX position, with the ignition off, and the radio on. When the key is removed, the radio goes off.

I meant to take a picture of the finished product for this forum, but, sorry, I forgot. Next time I have the housing off, I'll pull the switch apart and take a photo.

[paulrwebster]

I ran the a feed from yellow and green wire on the driver side window switch to the radio's switched supply. My Sony CD player has an irritating little on/off switch that needs to be held in for a couple of seconds, so the standard fixed feed was not a good option.

[Enright]

Brijo, do you have the eBay item number please?
This sounds like a good mod and one I'd very much like to do too.

[lotusgirlmarie]

Curious, When I changed out my ignition keys and switch( the OE went bad) I was refered to the esprit switch for the USA cars. When you put the key in and turn it to ACC the key solonoid sucks in and a small pin of the back of the cylinder pushes a pin in on the switch. The radio stays on til the key is removed. Do the UK cars not have this pin on the back of the solonoid? What about a small pin in the center of the switch whee it turns?

[Ekapol]

To listen to the radio when parked, I would have needed the ignition on, not what I had in mind.

For me the main reason is that I can't stand having the power line for my stereo system being controlled by those tiny contacts in the ignition switch. US version stereo installation couldn't be worse -- they actually tapped the power out from the fuse box behind the speedometer gauges.

I installed a direct switch for this (solid red color on the left). I just have to make sure to turn it off.