Miata Mailing List: September 1999, Message #415

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>Anyway, occassionally (a couple of times a week) on start-up, none of the
>electrical stuff seems to work, such as the fan, wipers, etc.  Usually, 
>shutting the ignition off and restarting solves the problem.

  Replace the ignition switch now. It is the only point in the circuit that 
can affect what you describe. Referencing the schematics, the ignition switch 
actually has two switches inside, B1 and B2. The B2 switch contacts in your 
ignition switch are going bad. If it were the B1 contacts, the main power 
relay would be non-operative and your vehicle would be dead on the side of the 
road. If one set is bad, the other set may not be far behind.
  Additionally, even when the B2 contacts pass current to the circuits, the 
increased resistance of the poor contacts causes a voltage drop and localized 
heating. In other words, worst case could melt the switch. The schematic shows 
two each 30-amp and one each 20-amp fused circuits hanging off of the B2 
contacts.

  It's cheaper to replace it now. 

Regards,
Barry