Redog

1985 Delta 88:

I have my starter kill all hooked up, well almost

I have a total of 9 hours into installing this thing, but that includes relocation the aftermarket tach I installed and cleaning up a lot of the "rigging" done for the aftermarket radio that the previous owner installed. (looking for a 80's Delco cassette player, BTW) plus a little bit of drilling in the "A" pillar for that tach.

Anyway, I was wondering if there is a key to starter wire under the dash I could splice into for the starter kill. I could tap into the pink wire that goes thru the fuse block to kill the disturbor, but I'd rather do the starter because I'm thinking doing it this way the dist always has power and the starter "shuts off" in a matter of speaking after the engine is turned over. I'm thinking the constant current will fry the relay set-up this kill switch has. Also I want to avoid going thru the firewall directly to the starter because the starter is so close to the exhaust and in the future I plan to have headers on the car and think the wires will get burnt thru.

Under the dash I see the pink wire that goes thru the fuse block and a thick orange wire that is plugged into the fuse block, but I'm not sure what that is.

Is there a starter wire under the dash for a safer splice, and do I splice into the wire, or totally redirect the wire into the relay?

getawaycar

I don't know the specifics like wire colors on your ignition switch, but the starter signal does come from the ignition. If you have a meter or test light you can back probe the electrical connection and turn the key to start and figure it out. Or find a wiring diagram to tell you which wire is the start signal.

Chris

MDchanic

Starter is usually purple or purple and white, depending on whether it's before or after the neutral safety switch.

- Eric

Redog

There is a purple wire and it's pluged into the fuse block on the side (like a radio pin) but I'm thinking that is for the oxygen sensor and my manual says that too.

I do have a manual with wiring diagrams, but I can't find anything about the starter wire.

I did just buy a volt tester today. I guess I'll be looking for the wire to go live when I crank the car and die off when the car is running?

getawaycar

Of all the wires at the ignition switch, it should be the one that DOES NOT HAVE POWER with the key in the run position. It will only have power in the START position. Hope that helps.

Chris

Redog

I'm going to test that one purple wire at break time. I think it's an O2 wire though, but if it's got power with the car running, I'm right and the quest contuines

Redog

The purple wire is hot with the car running. There is a pink wire, that is for the dist and I don't want to tap into that. there is also a thick orange wire with a black stripe it's hot all the time, pull it and the car dies (most likely a batery wire of some kind)

So it there no key to starter wire under the dash?

getawaycar

Where are you checking the wiring? Every automotive ignition switch, regardless of manufacturer, should have at least 4 wires. Battery power which is hot all the time, ignition which is hot in the run position, accessory which is hot in acc and run position, and the start signal which has momentary power when the switch is held to the start position.

If you have a column ignition switch you will have to access the harness at the base of the column. The ignition may have its own connector, or may be bundled with the turn signals, horn, cruise, etc.

It is also likely that there is a relay labeled "start" or "starter" in the engine compartment fuse panel that may be easier to access.

Chris

joe_padavano

The 1977-up B-body cars do not use an electric neutral safety switch. They use a mechanical blocking ring in the steering column that prevents the lock cylinder from turning to the START position unless the shifter is in the park or neutral positions. There IS a switch that looks like a neutral safety switch at the base of the steering column, but it only controls the backup lights and provides the park/neutral signal to the ECU so it can adjust mixture and idle speed. The switch on the steering column is not connected to the starter circuit at all.

Redog

I am looking at the fuse panel, under the dash all the way over to the left.

There is a purple wire pluged into it, but when I tested that with the circut tester it's hot in run. I'm pretty sure that's for the O2 sensor.

I found this, but it doesn't really tell me where to look, but it does say the wire I'm looking for is purple.

Where is the engine fuse box? I didn't see one and this isn't my first Delta

Redog

OK I was just outside and climbed WAY up under the dash and I found the imfamous purple and white wire. One end goes to a relay, the other end goes to a plug and the other side of the plug is a purple wire.

I couldn't really get a good reading with my circut tester so I unpluged it and turned the key. The car cranked and started

Is this the right wire? I'm thinking no because the car shouldn't have cranked. The relay was huge, silver and stamped "made in Canada" Am I in the right area?

Also, I thnk I already know the answer here, to kill the starter with this thing, the wire in question has to be cut and the two ends ran into the starter kill. If I splice off the starter wire but leave the wire connected to itself (like bridged) the kill will do no good

Lady72nRob71

The BIG SOLID purple wire comes off the ignition switch which is on the column under the dash. It goes straight to the starter.
Two plugs plug into that switch. There should not be a relay with it.
The kill switch will need to be in line with that big solid purple wire.

Redog

So the purple wire BEFORE the plug that I found is the correct one? After the plug is was purple with a wire stripe. I don't see the ends of this wire so I can't really splice into it.

MDchanic

Just touch the purple wire to a 12v source - if the starter cranks, then that's the one.

- Eric

Lady72nRob71

The wire you will want is in a plug on the column among a couple big reds, a brown, a big purple, a pink, an orange, and a brown/white.
In your picture above, a yellow may be tacked on along with the purple.

Redog

^^ OK

I was under the dash again today before I had to go to work and I found, at least I thnk I did, the plug you are taking about, however the purple wire is hot when the car is running as well as starting. It was next to a pink/black wire and a black wire in the plug. I may have had the wrong plug. There was another plug that had a green wire and a blue wire. I'm thinking that's for the Turn signal switch.

The purple wire was 18 gauge like the rest. I did find a purple wire, thick, behind the fuse box that goes right thru the firwall, but I was unable to trace it today. I'm going to see if I can trace that wire tomorrow

Lady72nRob71

That sounds more like it - thick and thru the firewall. Find the switch it goes to on the column, remove it from that switch and those connections will be where your kill switch would go.

Redog

WHOO HOO It was the right wire and I found the plug on the collum. Cut and stripped the wire and the car starts after it's hooked up.

The probelm is the car starts wheather the switch is flipped or not. I tried to start the car after I cut the wire and it didn't start. It starts just fine after everything is wired up.

I'm thinking 2 things that could be wrong.

There is a yellow wire on the system and the instructions say "this wire must not die while car is being cranked" so I hooked it to a pink/black ign wire. Is that OK or should it be hooked to a "hot" wire?

The other thing could be the starter wires are backwards on the instructions. The system says the white wire goes to the starter side and the red wire goes to the key side and that is the way I wired it.

I'm thinking the instructions are backwards and maybe the red wire should go to the starter side and the white white to the key side.

Any ideas?

Redog

Gotta admit, cool place to mount the LED

Lady72nRob71

The yellow wire could have been left connected to the ignition switch where it was. I think that goes to the ignition. The purple is for the starter solenoid and that is the only once that nneded to be cut for a kill switch (which to me is a simple toggle switch). Not sure what kind of device you got.

Redog

It is 2 relays and a bunch of wires.

I'm thinking the instructions has the starer kill wires backwards

MDchanic

Okay, I'm glad that you found the right wire, but now I'm a little confused about exactly what you're doing.

A kill switch is simply a switch of any description (toggle, push-button, burglar-alarm pressure mat, etc.) that interrupts a vital engine electrical function and prevents the car from being driven to a criminal's lair.

You seem to have something that has a number of wires and other components, whose exact function I am not clear on.

Can you post any photos or links that would show us exactly what you've got?

- Eric

Redog

I have this

MDchanic

Hmmmmm...

I don't like always being the negative guy here, but it seems to me you've got a very complicated system there when all you need is one simple switch.

The system you've bought (for a reasonable price, I will admit) adds the feature of automatic arming, and an LED, but automatic arming is unnecessary, since you're not likely to forget to turn the thing on, and the LED really just serves to draw the attention of potential miscreants - you'll know if the thing's on because the car won't start.

I installed my first kill switch on a '71 Celica in 1979, and my second on a '70 Chevelle SS in 1980 (still working, by the way). When I did the Chevelle, I drilled a row of holes in the dash and installed LEDs, one of which I dedicated to kill switch status (in 1980, there were NO cars with lights on when they were parked). After a while, the LEDs stopped working (who knows why - I was not pulling the dash AGAIN to find out), but I found that it really didn't matter - I knew (know) exactly how the engine sounded (sounds) when starting up, and if it didn't sound right, I knew I had forgotten the kill switch. The tach also behaved differently with the switch on and off.

My point is that there was a "cool factor" associated with having a neat little dashboard light for the kill switch, but no practical need for one whatsoever, and the added complexity was just an annoyance.

So, as the negative guy, I'll just say, I think you'll do better with just a switch interrupting the circuit(s) of your choosing, placed in the location of your choosing. Anything more complicated requires you to spend more valuable time installing it, and runs the risk of malfunctioning and stranding you at some future time.

- Eric