Anywho, I'm an advocate for using the stock electrical systems wherever possible primarily because I am lazy. Doing custom work is 10x as hard because you have to engineer your own solutions for everything (e.g. what wires go where, mounting the switch, why am I installing a fuse, etc.). Replacing parts is easy because stock is a direct fit and there's a procedure in the factory service manual you can follow step by step. Plus, the parts in the GM system are pretty decent generally speaking, so not only is it harder to install aftermarket, it's a downgrade in performance.
Try searching for your switch on rockauto.com, they tend to have low prices. AC Delco or GM Genuine is your best bet, but if bucks are tight, Standard Motor Products (the good one, not the T-Series) will probably get the job done.
Greetings
@DixieMafia251,
Komet, Schurkey, & GoToGuy are all giving you rock solid advice.
And like Komet & yourself, once upon a time money was tight for yours truly. I distinctly
remember riding around with a hammer, so that not if but when the starter wouldn't turn
over I knew *exactly* where to tap it in order to get a another few uses out of it. (And when
I could finally replace that starter, afterwards it felt like pure luxury to no longer need the hammer
as part of the starting routine. Man, the stuff that we take for granted these days. :0)
But getting back to your ignition switch replacement, I'd like to join in with the gentlemen above to
get you to replace the bad part with an identical part. Why?
A: IF you stay with the original setup, then if you have a problem down the road, then somewhere around
the country one of us can pull up the following page and be able to help you figure out what is going wrong:
'96 Chevrolet CK Truck Service Manual, Volume 2, p. 1760 (Electrical Diagnosis, Ignition Switch)
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As you can see, there's a *lot* going on in a small space. The ignition switch is going to
take (2) RED "Always Hot" inputs, and then depending upon what the human decides, distribute the
power into 5 separate, parallel circuits, with the following rules: (reading the above from left to right)
* Hot in ON & ACCessory.
* Hot in ON only.
* Hot in START only.
* Hot in ON + START.
* Hot in OFF + ON + START.
I'm pretty comfortable with this stuff, but I wouldn't want to try and duplicate the above with a generic
switch and guarantee it's reliable...especially if it was to be wired in parallel with the suspect original switch.
(Yikes!)
****
But if you choose to modify the wiring harness in order to install a generic starter switch...then this
page in the manual is no longer applicable, so now we're troubleshooting remotely blind?
And while we're on the subject of wiring diagrams, the Haynes is just close enough to reality that all it's
really good for is getting your hopes up, only to be dashed upon the hard rocks of not-matching reality.
Instead, the good people in here have set up a spot where you can download the factory service manuals
for your '96. For free. Give yourself the gift of the real documents to follow: (
'88-'98 FSM)
Best of luck. Let us know what you find when you find it.
