89 with a HOT ignition switch?

[Huntervf]

I noticed the slightest wisps of smoke from the steering column on the 89 the other day. I'd been about an hour into a road trip, had the blower motor, stereo and cruise all on. Turned those items off, smoke seemed to disappear, I continued home.

Today I took the covers off the steering column, found no obvious signs of hot wires. Took the car for a spin, and discovered that the ignition switch (at least I think it's the ignition switch, please see photo below and correct me if I'm wrong) is getting very hot when multiple accessories are running. I can run the blower, or the radio, or the cruise, or a combination of those two without too much heat (still getting warm though.) If I go to three, the switch gets quite hot in just a couple minutes. I've yet to actually unplug the switch for a closer exam, but I feel pretty confident that this was the source of the smoke.

All accessories work fine, and the car starts fine, though I've noticed that I don't seem to have an accessories on setting on the lock cylinder. If I want to put down the windows or turn on the stereo, I have to turn the key all the way forward to the on position. I occasionally get a whine through the stereo speakers, but it's an aftermarket deck and I attributed the whine to an iffy ground on the deck itself. The lock cylinder isn't loose, but I can completely remove the key while the car is running. Aside from that, I discovered that a previous owner bypassed the clutch interlock switch, and the driver door has no door ajar switch. Sometimes when I open the door I get interior lights, sometimes I don't. Not sure if either of those items are related to the hot switch.

So, I suppose my question is this: What would cause this switch to get so hot? Switch itself failing, or could there be another electrical issue causing the accessories to draw too much power? Please remember that, while I'm handy with a wrench, my electrical savvy leaves much to be desired.

Thanks much for any and all help

 

[firstgen89sho]

Yes, that is common on the older cars, due to resistance in the connections, you can buy the connector and wiring pigtail, to replace the damaged connector and wires, and that will get rid of your wisps of smoke

also check the multifunction switch for the same problem.

 

[pjtoledo]

Over time the contacts in the switch degrade, forcing all the power to go thru an ever decreasing contact area. The result is heat, and lots of it. Time for a new switch. You'll need a security Torx wrench set, I don't remember the size. Pulling the plug out of the switch without breaking it is the hardest part.


Perry

 

[SHO1]

The MFS is usually where that heat is from. Have seen several. Will likely find a melting contact in the switch as well as a couple wires and part of one of the plugs that connect to it if it's gotten bad enough. Have never had or see any problems w/the Ign. switch on any of 4 '89's I've had and 1 my dad had and atleat 350k between them and they all already had atleast 70k each on them previously.

 

[Huntervf]

MFS was my first guess as well, but there wasn't a single thing wrong with it and no signs of heat.

It was actually the ignition switch--the harness itself wasn't melted, but one of the connectors for a main power wire was actually a little bit blue from heat. The heat had also resulted in some minor melting on a couple of the wires a few inches outside the harness. That was the source of the smoke wisps I was seeing.

New switch is in, and it stays much cooler. There's still some heat when I have everything on (especially when the fan is on high; that sucker must draw a bunch of juice), but it's nothing like the scalding temps from before.

I got lucky, as it must have just started to go bad.

And actually Per, the hardest part for me was getting the damn thing back in the lock cylinder to where it would work correctly with the little ignition push button on the bottom right of the column. I wasn't aware that the gears for that button had to be lined up a certain way for the switch to cycle through all of its settings. I finally got it with trial and error.

Thanks for the input my friends!