Facepalm moment

[disquek]

There was a thread about these moments, but I couldn't find it.

Yesterday after work, I happily jumped in my Elan to drive to a friends where we were going to work on his race car. It's always started immediately. But this time it just wasn't starting. The starter was cranking it over great. Just no fire, not even a sputter! Finally all of a sudden... vroom!! I turned it off and on a couple of times and it was good to go.

So I figure it's a fluke (hope springs eternal) and off I go on my motoring adventure. I get about 3 miles from home, and it's running great! Until it's not. It just shuts off without a sputter. Dead. I get lucky and I coast into a nice little parking lot. I figure my backup plan is to take an Uber home and grab my trailer and come get it. But I have tools with me and I start to look for the issue.

I take the lower dash trim pieces off and start checking wires looking for the issue. Nothing jumps out at me.

With the BDP, the coil is BURRIED under the carbs and with the remote oil filter at the front, it's not easy to get in there. Finally after about an hour of wire tracing, cursing, and sweating I verify that there is power at the coil wire at the ignition switch but not on the + side of the coil. I give up tracing the wire, as it disappears into the taped loom. I have a few alligator clip jumper wires with me (not my first Lucas rodeo) and I jumper the coil + to the fuse box and drive home with my tail between my legs.

I make some dinner and I'm sadly eating when the light bulb goes off over my head. The kill switch!!!!! LOL I'd vowed to never touch it. The horn wasn't going off. I get back out to the garage and check it .... yup. There is a position about 1/16th" off of the "run" position where the coil is dead and the horn circuit isn't on yet. Full face palm moment!

-Kyle

[MarkDa]

At least yours works
Mine was a solder mess that didn't want to know so I did away with it - one less thing to worry about!

[Grizzly]

I actually used to use that switch (the theory was if i used it the contacts etc would stay clean)....... Well up until a day i was coming out of work having lost my cool over something trivia in typical fashion and slightly too aggressively went to flick the switch which of course vanished through the hole and disintegrated behind the glove box.

Erm yeh Was not one of my proudest moments but ever since i have just bypassed them.....

[MarkDa]

I can't help but think that professional thieves know where it is and to deter casual theft i use a wheel lock.
Although a friend tells me that one day when he forgot his circular key he just thumped the block hard and it sprang open!