Bad ignition switch? Everything dead...

So, I go to start my car, turn the key...nothing. No gauges, fuel pump, fan, headlights...nothing. I check all the grounds, battery terminals...all clean and solid. I got out the multi-meter and checked the juice in the battery...good. I checked the juice at the solenoid and the hot wire going to the ignition switch, all good. I made a little wire jumper from the hot post on the switch(from the battery) to the ignition side, nothing happened. I did the same to the accessories side, it made a few sparks and the gauges energized. Then, I put it back on the ignition side of the switch and it all powered up...the starter button was workable, headlights could come on, fan and fuel pump were working. I started the car, everything seems ok now.

Could the ignition switch have been stuck in a weird limbo inside the switch? Or maybe some sort of pole reversal or oddity that needed the jumper wire to bump it back into place? I'm pretty sure an internal problem in a faulty ignition switch(or the hot wire leading to it) could cause I whole car to shut down...right?

 

Check the battery ground.

 

Checked...grounds are good, clean, and plentiful. Clean ground from battery to frame, frame to trans. and engine, and frame to body. I traced the hot wire and it had power all the way to the switch.

 

Check insulation on the hot wire ,make sure it isnt frayed some where causing intermitent short

 

Continuity check? That would tell you if you had a break in the wire.

 

Would a bad ignition switch cause a lack of power to everything? If so, I'm pretty sure that's what the problem is. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Not unless you have everything running through the ignition switch (which you shouldnt). Dont your brake lights work even when the car isnt running/key off?

 

I have to go through it all and see. I didn't wire it, but I chased the hot wire from the battery side of the solenoid to the switch...it just went through a 60 amp maxi-fuse and continued to the back of the switch. I'm assuming it continues on to the fuse block after the switch...like I said earlier, nothing at all was working until I bypassed the back of the switch. I'll rip into the fuse block this weekend and see what I find. I'll post my findings...thanks for the ideas...