IG1 is for essential engine things like the ignition, fuel pump, etc. It is on both at II and III. IG2 is for accessories like the heater fan, wipers, rear defogger, etc. It is on only at I or II but not III. Killing the accessories while cranking gives more battery power to the starter.

Not sure about the two IG1's. Is there just a splice in the wire going to the same terminal on the switch?

You can also measure voltage at each wire. The BAT wire is of course from the battery and always live. The other ones should become live at the corresponding position of the switch. It is possible with a bad switch that IG1 could be live when switching it from off to II, but not when letting go of the key so it springs back from III to II.

Holding the key at III after the engine has started is of course very hard on your starter. For voltage tests you could unplug the small wire from the starter so it does not activate when turning the key.

 

It seems that the two different terminals of IG1 branch to circuits for either the ignition system or other components that should be ON in both position II and III. IG2 appears to be reserved for circuits you only want ON when in position II. You can get more details from the 84-87 manual available at the link in my signature.

By the way, what were the continuity results for IG1-right? This terminal might control voltage to the ignition system whereas IG1-middle controls voltage to other components (e.g., tachometer) of the IG1 circuit.

 

ok wow. went back, because the results I got made no sense. so the diagram I got from RonJ is not right. I think its for 88+. mine has 2 white 'bat' instead of 2 IG1s. Also everythings moved around. Like the ST wire. So, as it turns out, everything is actually perfectly fine.

Wiring is not the problem.

Now, that actually kind of makes sense, because everything works when the key is in II the FIRST time, fuel pump is on, lights are on, everything is on, move to III, car starts, move to II, car dies, stereo's on, no dash lights, and no fuel pump. if it were discontinuous, the fuel pump wouldnt come on the first time it was on II.
One more thing, since i wasn't as rushed this time around, i experimented, and there is the same continuity in the wires at II the first time as there is after I turn the key to III. However, once the car starts, and i turn the key back to II, it dies and the lights and fuel pump shut off. So then i noticed if i THEN turn it back to one, then back to II, fuel pump on, lights on, good to go. So next, I tried hotwiring the car. That worked, car ran great. Then, i tried turning the key to III, starting it, then quickly turning it back to one, then back up to II all before the engine gets a chance to shut down. It works. so now my question is: WTF. its like you have to trick it into starting. I dont know of any controller that can differentiate between I->II and III->II and make these two differing states.
think maybe my key thing is just messed up?

 

Your ignition key switch is bad. Replace it.





You really don't need to think about it any more, just replace it. But if you really do think about it, the contacts move differently when they go from I to II versus going from III to II. If there's some slack in the mechanism, the contact may not land right going from III to II though it does going from I to II.

 

Yeah, all of your observations clearly point to a bad ignition switch. I took the ignition switch diagram from the 84-87 Civic manual so it must cover a different model than your Civic.

After you put in the new ignition switch, you can test mk's logical theory by showing a lack of continuity between the battery and IG terminals of the old switch when moved from position III to II but not when moved from position I to II. In essence, you already have this result from the tests you described.

 

k sweet, thanks alot guys for the help.
at least now i know more about my cars ignition systems.