Ignition switch melt down!! Harness and smoke HELP

[jamessims]

Changed it out but when I went to start it poof smoke looting out of left side fender !! Found some burnt up wires on harness it melted harness up too ! It all started or happened over nite I drove home 120 miles from north Houston with AC running when I got home I turned her off. When I got in her again the next morning the ignition felt jammed up finally got her started but no AC nothing would work after I shut he down again I couldn't ever get anything to engage to get her started again!!

 

[clean93]

Id go over all your connections again. did you replace the starter solenoid too?

 

[jamessims]

The start solenoid was new 7 months ago it's weird what ever happened !! I ve been driving it 150 miles a day for months with no issues then all of sudden had a melt down

 

[clean93]

yea i used to daily drive mine and one day my clutch cable caught on fire due to a bad/corroded body ground by the oil filter base. has me nervous to drive it to this day. last summer my fuel pump wires melted for whatever reason and left me in an intersection

 

[jamessims]

Hmmm

Dude that don't help me!!

 

[jamessims]

Tested alternator it's fried!! Anyone ever have a alternator melt down your ignition switch and possibly other components??

 

[4valvemach]

yea i used to daily drive mine and one day my clutch cable caught on fire due to a bad/corroded body ground by the oil filter base. has me nervous to drive it to this day. last summer my fuel pump wires melted for whatever reason and left me in an intersection

Dude that don't help me!!

I LOL reading that!!!!

 

[jamessims]

Oh come on you people telling me no one has ever had this problem? I love to hear you got a good laugh but I am in need of a brain to help me troubleshoot this...come on Everyone help a guy out

 

[4valvemach]

So what is the problem you have now after replacing the starter solenoid and alternator?

no power at all?
power to crank but nothing else?
do you have any power when the key is turned to the on position?

 

[jamessims]

Ok I ve been doing some reading so I am chasing wires and making sure things are good... A good buddy of mine showed up with a breakout box to install between the computer and wiring harness to test each sensor etc... What a buddy so I will do some testing Tomorrow nite and let you guys know what I find.... Also does anyone know if there was a change to the alternator harness by ford in the past on 91 mustangs? Mine still has stock it's a 84k car... Trying to figure out why this happened to prevent it later on


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.036751,-95.426852

 

[FISHTAIL]

Sounds to me like you've got a short, bad ground, or both. I've never seen that happen on any of the foxes I've had, and I've got over 200k miles on the one I own currently.

I can't really offer any assistance into figuring out what got cooked why, but I can tell you that as far as I know, the harness for the alternator is the same from 87-93. Unless that harness was rubbing on your intake (assuming you have an aftermarket one that sits close to the alternator like my March kit), I'd look elsewhere for the cause of your troubles. Since you said this all started after you changed your ignition switch, I'd start there and work out. Check for loose/bad grounds, shorts, etc.

Good luck.

 

[jamessims]

I am on it I'll let u know when I find the issue

 

[jamessims]

Ok found a yellow 10guage wire that connects to the starter solenoid the fuse link was blown replaced the ignition switch and tied it back together and boom car is running don't worry not driving it I need to find out what fuse link to buy anyone out there know?

 

[jamessims]

Anyone? Schematics that show size of fuse link?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.036744,-95.426755