Craptacular molex connectors!

Replaced the electrical portion of the ignition switch on my 78 the other day and thought at the time hmmm that molex connection is a little loose so I zip tied it. I left for work today and it started sputtering and backfired so I drove it back to the house and took the Honda to work got home today to pull it in the driveway turned the key and nothing...ignition and brake light were on that's it checked the new ignition relay all good, got back in and nothing so just for fun turned the key and touched the ignition switch molex and it fired up ticks me off to spend $60.00 on a part just to turn around and replace all the molex with individual connections.

The curse of the "yellow peril" strikes again.

Got fed up with the mo;ex connectors in Kathys LW and cut them ALL out and replaced with individual blade connectors for a much much better feeling connection.

Did you solder or just crimp? I replaced mine a few years ago, soldered connectors and no problems since.

Before you end up spending that kind of money, I would check out one of the electronic supply houses on this list [url=http://www.sourceesb.com/Distributors/Molex.asp][color=#CC0033]Molex Distributors[/color][/url]. You will usually find them much more reasonable than auto supply houses because of the volume they do.

I know and have worked with a number of Molex engineers over the years. They do make a quality product, so I wouldn't call the connector crappy. Typically, malfunctions are due to the failure to properly strain-relieve the connector. But that's a whole other issue.

Remember too that the Molex connector design you are using is about 50 yrs old now. Not that it was bad to begin with, just 'cuz its old, but they have come out with better designs since. My experiences with Molex connectors has been similar to Larry's comment, "Typically, malfunctions are due to the failure to properly strain-relieve the connector." The little and thin barbs on the actual connecting pins/tubes inside the nylon shells really aren't meant to handle some of the abuse they have gotten over the years and break off, allowing the connectors inside to come apart from handling and vibration.

I buy molex connectors all the time for my other time consuming hobby pinball machines and I have never had a problem like this and that's with replacing one side of a 30+ year old connector and they mate up just fine and nice and tight but with this one I had to zip tie it just to get it to hold together at all I'm thinking the connector on the new switch is using a chep molex knock off..

Tom

It could be a knock off connector. I have never known those Molex connectors to be anything but tight. Sometime they are a real PIA to get apart. They are still used extensively in PCs.

In an entirely different vein, I am completely rewiring my B and have chosen to use SXL wire and Delphi metri-pac connectors. I'm using the SXL wire mainly because the cross linked insulation doesn't out-gas and eventually harden and crack like PVC and the connectors because of their water tightness and strain relief features.