By far the most common concerns written on ro's is..."my gauges (or gages...lol) go to zero and then come back up to normal," or my truck has no power when pulling away from a stop and my check is light is on. these are the most common concerns for us by far. now saying that I just replaced a ign switch on a montana today for a no crank. so like everything elese there are exceptions to the rule.
Now to test.. this can be hard for the guy who has no info such as service manual, it requires checking the power flow from the ign switch using a wiring scmat, the most common is the trans in 2nd and the ses light on(cause the trans sets power loss related dtc's due to the ckt being open(no power) use a test light at the trans fuse, no power at both sides and assuming the wiring harness is ok(never had a harness cause this) you can bet the ign switch is bad. also i catch many intermitent concerns by starting the truck and just wiggling the key around and watching the gauges for drop out, or watching my test light light that i have connected to the trans fuse, if the test light goes out or the gauges drop out while i am wiggling the cylinder then i know the switch is bad. another way i test is turn the key on/off many times hard and fast while watching the gauges, if i know i had the key on and the gauges didn't come up then i know or if the "wow" test ( the bulb check) fails to perform its self test then its the switch. again the most popular concern is either no power from a stop or my ip is in op sometimes these are my normal procedures for ign switches and rarely fail for me
Replacing this can vary from year to year, first thing is to disconnect you battery(first move the seat all the way back cause your going to be under the dash if your seats are power) remove the steering wheel air bag, to do this look for two slots on back side of the wheel towards the ip, these are a spring bar that needs to be pryed to release the bag from the steering wheel, these can make you mental, take your time!! air bags cost a ton!!. then remove the elec. connects that connect the air bag, there is a safety clip that must be lifted up on the connector before you can unplug the connetor, then remove the nut that holds the steering wheel, you will need a steering wheel puller( i leave the nut on by 6-8 threads and firmly but gently rock the wheel back and forth, release and repeat, the nut is left on so you dont eat the wheel when it pops off), ok the bag and the wheel is off, remove the lower hush panel, remove the metal sheild that you see under the hush panel(4--10 mil nuts) then look at your lower strg col cover, some have torx screws to undo some don't. remove the tilt leaver, it pulls straight out remove the lower cover it is snapped to the upper and its a good pull to seperate them, then look up at the upper you will see one more little torx screw holding the upper on to the col assy, remove that screw. now you have the upper loose and the ign cyl. is in the way, look for a little hole on top of the housing...stick a pick in there and turn the ign cyl to the crank pos, once there depress the pin thats down in that hole and pull the cylinder out. right by that hole is a little white tab that has to come out, it has 3 wires going to it the release tab is kinda hard to see so be careful, now go under the dash to the big connector with the 10 gauge wire going to it, undo the 9/32 bolt in the center and pull it out. the 2 outter rows of wires will be staying in the truck its the big center one thats the ign switch harness (some years you will unplug the switch at the switch near the ign cyl, some years you unplug the switch at the big connector under the dash) either way you will see two little slots on each side, stick a pick in there and release each pin while pulling down, be careful the sir coil is near by. so now the switch is out. compare the two, look at the teeth on the old one, set the new one to match, install it and connect all elec connectors for the ign switch, the connect the bat and make sure the new switch is "timed" meaning the acc pos is the acc pos etc, reassembly is the reverse. it sounds hard but its not......so remove air bag, steering wheel, hush panel, metal sheild, lower col cover, undo upper, pick in hole, remove ign cyl. disconnect ign switch harness, remove swtich, time new switch and reass as req....thats all.
Now to test.. this can be hard for the guy who has no info such as service manual, it requires checking the power flow from the ign switch using a wiring scmat, the most common is the trans in 2nd and the ses light on(cause the trans sets power loss related dtc's due to the ckt being open(no power) use a test light at the trans fuse, no power at both sides and assuming the wiring harness is ok(never had a harness cause this) you can bet the ign switch is bad. also i catch many intermitent concerns by starting the truck and just wiggling the key around and watching the gauges for drop out, or watching my test light light that i have connected to the trans fuse, if the test light goes out or the gauges drop out while i am wiggling the cylinder then i know the switch is bad. another way i test is turn the key on/off many times hard and fast while watching the gauges, if i know i had the key on and the gauges didn't come up then i know or if the "wow" test ( the bulb check) fails to perform its self test then its the switch. again the most popular concern is either no power from a stop or my ip is in op sometimes these are my normal procedures for ign switches and rarely fail for me
Replacing this can vary from year to year, first thing is to disconnect you battery(first move the seat all the way back cause your going to be under the dash if your seats are power) remove the steering wheel air bag, to do this look for two slots on back side of the wheel towards the ip, these are a spring bar that needs to be pryed to release the bag from the steering wheel, these can make you mental, take your time!! air bags cost a ton!!. then remove the elec. connects that connect the air bag, there is a safety clip that must be lifted up on the connector before you can unplug the connetor, then remove the nut that holds the steering wheel, you will need a steering wheel puller( i leave the nut on by 6-8 threads and firmly but gently rock the wheel back and forth, release and repeat, the nut is left on so you dont eat the wheel when it pops off), ok the bag and the wheel is off, remove the lower hush panel, remove the metal sheild that you see under the hush panel(4--10 mil nuts) then look at your lower strg col cover, some have torx screws to undo some don't. remove the tilt leaver, it pulls straight out remove the lower cover it is snapped to the upper and its a good pull to seperate them, then look up at the upper you will see one more little torx screw holding the upper on to the col assy, remove that screw. now you have the upper loose and the ign cyl. is in the way, look for a little hole on top of the housing...stick a pick in there and turn the ign cyl to the crank pos, once there depress the pin thats down in that hole and pull the cylinder out. right by that hole is a little white tab that has to come out, it has 3 wires going to it the release tab is kinda hard to see so be careful, now go under the dash to the big connector with the 10 gauge wire going to it, undo the 9/32 bolt in the center and pull it out. the 2 outter rows of wires will be staying in the truck its the big center one thats the ign switch harness (some years you will unplug the switch at the switch near the ign cyl, some years you unplug the switch at the big connector under the dash) either way you will see two little slots on each side, stick a pick in there and release each pin while pulling down, be careful the sir coil is near by. so now the switch is out. compare the two, look at the teeth on the old one, set the new one to match, install it and connect all elec connectors for the ign switch, the connect the bat and make sure the new switch is "timed" meaning the acc pos is the acc pos etc, reassembly is the reverse. it sounds hard but its not......so remove air bag, steering wheel, hush panel, metal sheild, lower col cover, undo upper, pick in hole, remove ign cyl. disconnect ign switch harness, remove swtich, time new switch and reass as req....thats all.