i have a 1980 olds cutlass Calais and am changing out the switches and relays inside and i am noticing the switches are different than regular g body cars. it took me two months and lots of arguing with salespeople to apprise them of this fact. i just bought the ign switch the other day for a non-tilt column and mine is tilt are they the same? mine is binding up. i installed the horn relay yesterday and went inside for dinner and heard a loud noise the stupid horn was going off so i disconnected the battery and left it. the reason i am fixing all the switches is i had an electrical fire and melted a bunch of wires. while i was testing stuff i hooked a test light to the ground and touched the white wire and all the preinstalled smoke came out i wonder why. this is the wire for the interior light. if anyone needs a shop manual for a 1984 olds let m,e know i have both of them.
are they different?
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The tilt switch (I'm assuming you mean the switch that mounts on the lower column) is opposite of the non-tilt switch. One is a push and the other is pull. So you need to match a tilt column switch with yours. With that said, there's still a lot of crossover parts between a 1980 A-body and 82-88 G-body. You're right, there are some things that are different, but you have to be persistent.
The lower column switch you seek is GM p/n 1990116, aka ACDelco D1405B, or equivalent. 76-88 WITH tilt column. May fit earlier models too and IIRC, it does, but I didn't research it any further.
For those interested, GM p/n 1990115, aka ACDelco D1404B, is the lower column switch for 76-88 NON-tilt.
Take your non-tilt switch back to the store if you haven't opened it or if they'll take back switches. Not sure why you ended up with that instead of the right one. Sometimes the grease in the column at the key switch gets dried up and the key gets hard to turn. It may take some disassembly to clean it/re-grease and reassemble. Not saying that's your issue, but it has been other people's problems in the past with a hard to turn key.
The lower column switch you seek is GM p/n 1990116, aka ACDelco D1405B, or equivalent. 76-88 WITH tilt column. May fit earlier models too and IIRC, it does, but I didn't research it any further.
For those interested, GM p/n 1990115, aka ACDelco D1404B, is the lower column switch for 76-88 NON-tilt.
Take your non-tilt switch back to the store if you haven't opened it or if they'll take back switches. Not sure why you ended up with that instead of the right one. Sometimes the grease in the column at the key switch gets dried up and the key gets hard to turn. It may take some disassembly to clean it/re-grease and reassemble. Not saying that's your issue, but it has been other people's problems in the past with a hard to turn key.
not sure about olds per se but GM couldn't make up their minds early on. Like my GP, 78-79 had different switches for a lot, 80-81 different still, then 82(?) on when they put wipers on the column I don't know how many different parts there are... hope you get it all squared away.
The problem is sometimes the parts guys take them out of the box and then put them in wrong. I had my butt kicked on a water pump one time on that. Reverse rotation
the parts guy swore they were all the same and once installed the won't take it back. typical napa. i had a hell of a time getting my headlight switch.
The one you want for tilt column:
The one you DON'T want- as this is for the NON-tilt:
Note the quickest way to tell the difference is that the plug receptacle/guts are BACKWARDS from each other. The part that bolts to the column if you notice, is flipped from one to the other. The one you want has the short side of the plug, or just the two prongs closest to the mounting screw flange for a tilt. Hence the push/pull difference due to being flipped.
The way it mounts is basically on top of the lower column, and the unit sits with the wiring plugs coming in from the passenger side. So looking at the pics above, they're upside down looking at it from the passenger side.
This pic shows a tilt column ignition switch as you lower the column, looking at it from the driver seat. It's the switch on the very top, 12 o'clock position. Hope this helps.
The one you DON'T want- as this is for the NON-tilt:
Note the quickest way to tell the difference is that the plug receptacle/guts are BACKWARDS from each other. The part that bolts to the column if you notice, is flipped from one to the other. The one you want has the short side of the plug, or just the two prongs closest to the mounting screw flange for a tilt. Hence the push/pull difference due to being flipped.
The way it mounts is basically on top of the lower column, and the unit sits with the wiring plugs coming in from the passenger side. So looking at the pics above, they're upside down looking at it from the passenger side.
This pic shows a tilt column ignition switch as you lower the column, looking at it from the driver seat. It's the switch on the very top, 12 o'clock position. Hope this helps.
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