just when i thought things were looking up

[85ttops]

well i thought things were going real good with the minor repairs on the svo ....................... until today on the way home


i fried my sterio amp last week so the smell still lingers in the air and you can smell it a little while driving . today i didnt think it was anything diff until the smell got stronger, i looked real quick when i picked up my son to go to his parent/teacher confrence and couldnt find the sorce and didnt see any smoke so i passed it off as the fried amp......came back to the car after getting him " i left the car running " and got in and the smell was stronger then when i got out , so i unhooked the positive line to the amp "just in case" and started driving to the school , smell getting stronger still , so i start feeling around on all the wires i can get to " i have the covers off the colum so i started there " and like the second thing i put my fingers on is extremely hot , you can hold your hand on it for like 20 sec and you cant take it any more

"so by now your all wonder what it is that was getting so hot"

the ignition wiring block where all the wires run into and plug into the ignition switch on the colum , i have it narrowed down to 2 wires that are hot , both of the big yellow ones at the front of the plug " closest to the steering wheel"

what could be the cause of this

i didnt install any new fuses just removed and reinstalled same one last night when tring to figure out witch fuse runs the locks and fuel door

pat i know you love my long posts but please read and let me know what you think im afraid it might catch fire when im driving one of these mornings

as a side note to all you who may reply
i was not running anything that would draw power , besides me driving down the freeway ,no head lights ,no sterio ,no nothing just diving

[Gator]

Have you ever installed a new ignition switch ? If not I would suggest it...the originals have a tendency to cause fires.

[85ttops]

it looks like this one has been replaced befor but i dont know when

[Ken Potter]

I had the same switch problem in my 85 GT. When I went to change it it fell apart in my hands. Kinda scary... FLAME ON! ( Super Hero reference )

[fengler]

I would also change the ignition switch, when i switched mine out the old one literally fell apart in my hands.

[85ttops]

Fuel pumps and the stock cooling fan can draw lots of current as they age. Was the cooling fan running during this time?

Do you have access to an inductive amp gauge with a range of say 0-30 or 50 Amp? You can clamp around the battery cable, with alternator disabled, and see how much current things are actually drawing (except the fuel pump(s) under boost load).

BTW - stop driving it until this is resolved. If it's too hot to touch the outer insulation of the wires, it's melting the insulation on the inside - and all the wire insulation that touches those hot wires inside the rest of the harness bundle. I don't know how many fires you've been in but when the flames come out, there's nothing you can do except run away.

If just the end couple inches of the cables near the ignition switch are hot, with the rest of the wires being much cooler, then replace the ignition switch as noted above and test again. It might just be heat radiating from the switch. If the whole wire is hot, then it's just too much current and you only get a couple minutes TOTAL of wires at 175 degrees F before the insulation is toast. And it's kinda time consuming to repair/replace these harnesses.

it seems like the top most part of the switch housing gets the hottest but the wires are damb hot aswell

my cooling fan is wired direct to the ignition ,the new adjustable temp switch hadnt came in yet when i picked it up from pat or it would have been installed ,ups was a day late.

with how cold it is here now i could unplug it 95% of my driving is on the freeway anyways

i do not have access to one of those test meters,

it is just the last couple inches of the wires out of the plug that get hot

im going to change the switch tommarrow if crapa " napa" has one in stock

[Pat_in_L.A.]

82ttops, I'd go along with all that's been suggested so far. The original factory installed switches were recalled due to the potential for fire. The replacement switches are readily available and cheap. Cheap is part of the problem, but that's the only type of switch available. I believe that there's an ignition switch harness repair kit available too. Someone recently posted about it.

I'll Email you a long list of circuit info overnight that should help you with this and a few other problems that you mentioned in another thread.

[blackpheonix]

Is there a way to tell if your swutch has been replaced. Also if it was recalled then shouldn't Ford replace it?

[chalkys_explorer]

The one on the car had a Ford part number stamped onto it so it may be the original or a Ford replacement. Either way, it's hot to the touch and Mike and I will replace it tomorrow.

[Eyelawdoc]

The ignition switch on the car was replaced with a brand new Motorcraft switch one week before you picked up the car from Pat. The old original switch was falling apart from the two halves separating. I'd be willing to bet the newswitch is NOT at fault, but may have been overloaded.

Of course now that things have gotten overerloaded/overheated, you may want to replace it again. Something is drawing far more current through the ignition circuits than designed. First thing is to wire your fan correctly and get it off the ignition circuit.

[GAboySVO]

You need to put a relay in the fan circuit along with a fuse. My guess is that the amp draw of the fan motor is cuasing everything to heat up. It is always a good idea to use a relay for high amp draw devices on the SVO due to the weak wiring system.

[85ttops]

pat do you still have one of those adjustable fan temp switch from when i picked the car up , the delivery never made it the day i got there , and was said they would deliver the next day " the morning i left"

im going to unplug the fan for the ride home , well see if it mskes a difference on the new switch , witch i havent tested out since i put it in

[fengler]

i would just put in an aftermarket fan switch/relay assembly. i think its like 35 bucks at checker, thats what i did.

[tripice351]

You put a new ignition switch in this thing yet?

Seriously, don't drive that car until you get this fixed. At minimum, you can burn your prized SVO to the ground, at most, you could die. If you have no other transportation: ride a bicycle, take the bus, call a cab..

[85ttops]

sorry for the lack of responces lately has it reinstall all 4 stock spiring in a gulf yesterday and had alot of running around to do

yes the new switch is in , $13 at crapa, i replaced it friday while at work on my lunch break and unpluged the fan for the ride home . the switch didnt even get warm on the ride home , but i still need to test it with the fan running . im going to see if chalky will rewire it for me and put it on a switch , im thinking my stock sterio amp switch for now " im not to savie with electrical , so ill let a professinal do it"


next big project is to replace to blown heater core any one have one , pm me a price