Crossed wires in ignition Column harness

[e21pilot]

While replacing my worn out ignition column, I noticed that a PO had cut into the ignition wire harness at some point and then spliced some of the wires back together again.

Not sure why this was done but I did see that the two runs of Red-lt.Blue wires in the harness had been cut and then re-spliced however the runs had been criss-crossed meaning upstream end of the first wire had been spliced to the downstream end of the second wire.

It's an easy mistake to make because the two wires are identical in color. Only question is:, could this cause a problem? I was having intermittent starting issues which I assumed were related to the worn out column but just wondering if this wire criss-crossing could have contributed to the problem. My truck is an automatic so there is a neutral safety switch in the circuit.

 

[Mark_88]

If the truck otherwise ran and functioned I would say the wires being crossed didn't matter...and it sounds like those are your headlight wires anyway...meaning your high beam and low beams would work in reverse order as per the switch function.

Intermittent starting issues usually indicate any one or combination of the following: corroded wires, bad connections, low battery, bad ground, starter motor, ignition key, clutch kill switch, inertia switch, solenoid connections or bad solenoid, extreme weather affecting some or all of the above...

I know you've posted about having problems previously, but I don't recall what was wrong...or what you've done to correct your starting issue...if it is fixed and you were going back over things you found that may have been considered as problems then I would have to quote the old "if it isn't broke, don't try to fix it"...

Been there with my 88 and can show you the bills to fix things that didn't need fixing...well, actually, I may have thrown them out...lol

 

[adsm08]

It kinda sounds to me like they were trying to by-pass something in a worn ignition switch.

Many of those same-colored wires do the same thing, but are attached to different posts at the switch, either start or run.