Relays...I gotta have more.

[SteinOnkel]

Hey kids,

I want to add some more relays to take as much of the load off the ignition switch as possible. You see, Ivan, it is made in Mother Russia. Read: it sucks.

So I'm thinking...one relay for the starter solenoid. And one for the brown wire?

Sound good or should I go for three?

Cheers
Steiny

[aj81spider]

I had an '81 (now gone) that I put relays on the two other outputs (diagram below). On my 1974 I put relays on all four of the outputs from my switch. The fuel pump was probably overkill, but the other three take a lot of load off.

The brown wire is an input to the switch and becomes an input to both the switch and the relay. You want the relays on the output wires (for the brown wire that's the starter/red and the other loads which are light blue and light blue/black).
Here's a diagram of what I did on my '81. I drew these in PowerPoint (I can easily convert them to .pdf) and the diagrams I created for the 1974 as well. If you want them feel free to PM and I'll send them over.

[SteinOnkel]

Hey buddy,

yeah, if you would e-mail them over, that would be great. I'm trying to keep a nice, crisp log of all the upgrades I'm doing to the car as I restore it. Especially the wiring. If/when something fails and a new owner down the line has to diagnose something, it would be a nightmare without knowing what I changed versus stock.

You still have my email adress, correct?

Powerpoint or pdf is fine, thanks.

Cheers
Steiny

[SteinOnkel]

And done!

The dpo decided that no less than 5 (!) crimp connections for the wire going to the starter solenoid would suffice. It was one every 6 inches. Because exponentially increasing the resistance is your friend, I guess.

I repurposed the bypass valve relay in the relay holder. It's a nice made in Germany Bosch relay, super clean install.

And with that every single one of my electrical gremlins disappeared. No more higher reading temp gauge with the lights on, slow turn signals etc. Even the wipers work at an adequate speed now. I don't think I've ever owned a car that starts this well...not bad for a Fiat ha!

There is one wire on the back of the starter switch that still gets a little too warm for my taste. It's the wire that has constant 12v on it and supplies everything. There's not much I can do about that, I don't think. I don't see how I could add a relay to it.

Anyways cheers guys. I'm gonna go find a cozy bar during this miserable rainstorm we have currently raging.

[spider2081]

There is one wire on the back of the starter switch that still gets a little too warm for my taste. It's the wire that has constant 12v on it and supplies everything

The 1978 wire diagram shows a brown wire as well as a black wire feeding power to the ignition switch. I think most if not all Spiders have 2 wires powering the ignition switch. The brown wire feeds power to terminal 30 and the Black wire feeds power to terminal 30/1. I think the brown wire is a #8 wire and the black wire is a #10 wire. Using a single wire, either the brown or the black, to power the switch could be overloading the single wire in some conditions.

[SteinOnkel]

Ah, yes, you are correct there is also the brown wire.

The issue is that the black one gets hot. So hot in fact that the old ignition switch melted the insulation of the wire. I will be tracing this wire back to wherever it goes and replacing it with something of a heavier gauge. Probably moot, as the switch itself is the reason it gets hot.

Currently, it gets to about 60C according to the infrared. Not exactly doing wonders for the longevity of the Lada Switch, but such is life.

Cheers
Steiny

[spider2081]

Probably moot, as the switch itself is the reason it gets hot.

I think the switch simply connects the black wire to the pink wire. I believe your issue would be what the black wire is being connected to by the ignition switch not the ignition switch itself.

[aj81spider]

I'd be a little worried about the wire getting that hot. Something seems shorted out. I don't think there is that kind of load on the black wire. If my quick look at the '78 wiring diagram is correct (always a dubious proposition) it powers the brake lights and routes through the hazard switch, along with powering the ignition/distributor. None of these should be enough current to overheat the wire. This would indicate to me that there is a short of some sort drawing excessive current.

[SteinOnkel]

The wire is a supply wire going to the ignition switch. Or: it has battery voltage on it when disconnected.

It's just black on my car, who knows if that's factory (most definitely not).

[dinghyguy]

+1

The black wire should not get that hot. My suspicion is that the contacts in the ignition switch are perhaps bad and in need of cleaning. That job is actually not too bad based on my experience. I also would nto be surprised to see the spade connectors are corroded in the white plastic connector from the ignition switch (mine had got so hot the plastic had melted in the past).

The black wire i think connects to the pink wires which feed fuse 1 and the ignition. You might want to disconnect the pink wire to fuse 1 and see if the black wire heats up as much. that might help isolate where the high current draw is if all the above is good.

good luck
dinghyguy

[SteinOnkel]

The switch is new, but it is Lada...so not great.

I'll re-run that wire with all new connectors. Good to know where it goes, thanks.

[aj81spider]

Dinghyguy is right, the black wire is an input to the switch and the pink wire is one of the outputs. However, I don't think a bad switch would cause excessive current draw. If the contacts were bad you would get higher resistance and less current being drawn. A perfect switch has no resistance at all.

I agree with Dinghyguy, I would check things down stream of the switch. Pull the output wire and check it's resistance to ground and start there. Perhaps put an ammeter between the switch and the wire to see how much current is being drawn.

I have the wiring diagrams for the '78 if you don't already have them. Let me know and I'll email them to you.

[SteinOnkel]

Yeah, I'll do some more investigating. For now the car is under the cover with the battery disconnected, as it is nothing but rain here and then the holidays. So I will need to pick this up at a later point.

I have the wiring diagrams here, thank you.