Good morning!

 

I turned the key in my ignition to the "on" position a couple days ago and my car started up fine but after about 3 seconds smoke started coming out from behind my steering wheel, i quickly turned the car off and the smoke stopped coming out. I ripped all the plastics off and found that my ignition switch was the culprit. After removing the switch i saw a piece of solder that had fallen off the connection and bridged two connections causing the short.

The short was hot enough to melt the wires around the switch and ruin it so I went out and bought a new one. Being a student i have very little money or time to wait for OEM parts to arrive from the stealership. I bought an aftermarket part for $23. My problem with the aftermarket part is that the rear connections didn't align with the ignition barrel as you can see from the photo,   both of these switches were in the same "on" position but they have different alignments on the back.. So the screw mounting hole didn't line up with the the part. I had to use zip ties and JB weld to get the new part into its home. Very frustrating. I am posting this so people can learn something important about crap aftermarket parts. 

 

-Mike

Edited January 20, 20179 yr by grimaceNMike

The "new" one died last night. Even more shortages and smoke then the last one!! I replaced it with an OEM from the dealership for $65. i hope this one lasts till 2035 at least as I am tired of that job

I have not had that particular failure. Yes, some parts you are better off with oem.

It's hard to find aftermarket electrical parts for these. Youre not the first to have a Cheapo ignition switch die and make a smoke show.

 

Something you may want to look into is how much current is being pulled through that switch. Leave some of the plastic off of the column and feel that switch to see if it's getting hot after the car has been running a while.

 

Do you have any aftermarket accessories hooked up in the car? Chargers/inverters? Lights? Stereo equipment? Etc.

I have lots of aftermarket wires and lights, the heated power seats might be the culprit but it only happens occasionally, like every year or two so its hard to say.

I have lots of aftermarket wires and lights, the heated power seats might be the culprit but it only happens occasionally, like every year or two so its hard to say.

 

Any additional high load accesories like heated seats or high power lights need to be run off of Fused relays, NOT through the ignition switch.  That is likely the issue.

Yes, I agree. The heated/power seats and LED lighting are hooked up to their own fused relays, which I took power from an auxiliary wire that came from the "height control" module that is unused in the "L" model. I never looked into the schematic too closely, but I don't think the ignition switch and the height control share the same circuits??