Why is my ignition so hot?!?

[KaliKid]

Just got back from a short hour trip in 4 wheel high/AWD mode in my 02 through the snow and mud. I parked in my driveway and went to turn my car off when I noticed the ignition was really hot and so was my key. Any suggestions for what this could be or what could cause this to happen? I just stepped up to 35"s and had the Andy mod turned on.

Thanks in advance

 

[BrianSD_42]

It sounds like You have a short of some kind.

You may need to pull the dash apart. Do you own a for extinguisher? Keep it handy.

 

[KaliKid]

It sounds like You have a short of some kind.

You may need to pull the dash apart. Do you own a for extinguisher? Keep it handy.

Maybe from the Andy mod? So I never noticed any kind of short or hot ignition before getting my 35"s maybe when I ground down the pinch weld and hammered it over I exposed something? I didn't go into the firewall and I put gasket sealant on everything before painting it but with all the rain and then snow I guess that makes sense. What would most likely be shorting? I didn't notice anything out of the blue any other day before this.

And a fire extinguisher seems a little overboard.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I have no idea what or why, hopefully someone else does. But I had a buddy (w/ 88 Toyota truck) who's ignition started to catch on fire because of a short so yeah its something to be aware of.

If the wires are physically heating up (beyond anything normal) then there is some kind of a short going on.

 

[KaliKid]

It couldn't be the Andy mod or the aftermarket blinkers, I've been running both for a eely long time with no problems. What could I have exposed that I can't see from the inner front fender wells or inside the cab? [MENTION=81615]mien4x4[/MENTION] [MENTION=88231]having fun[/MENTION]

 

[KaliKid]

Could it have anything to do with the heater? haha my heater along with anyone else that owns a 3rd gen should know how badass our heaters are.
I was running it the entire drive to defogger the windows with a size window cracked to vent. Maybe I'm just paranoid cause it wasn't to hot to leave my finger on it just way warmer than usual. Maybe it's the first time I've ever noticed?

 

[txbonds]

Just got back from a short hour trip in 4 wheel high/AWD mode in my 02 through the snow and mud. I parked in my driveway and went to turn my car off when I noticed the ignition was really hot and so was my key. Any suggestions for what this could be or what could cause this to happen? I just stepped up to 35"s and had the Andy mod turned on.

Thanks in advance

Was the light bulb in the ignition key surround on for an extended time? Maybe it was on somehow and the heat from the bulb transferred into the metal ignition.

 

[Jwhite]

It is definitely sounds like a DC short circuit somewhere. If you have added anything to the circuit, that may be causing the overheat. Check ground cables under the dash and hood also. Feel the wires and trace them with your hand, you will find it.

 

[IBallEngineer]

It is definitely sounds like a DC short circuit somewhere. If you have added anything to the circuit, that may be causing the overheat. Check ground cables under the dash and hood also. Feel the wires and trace them with your hand, you will find it.

Not picking on anyone here, but I do get bugged by the improper use of the term "short". A "short" in an electrical circuit is basically a circuit that is not following it's normal path and is taking a "short" circuit. The most common being a short to ground, which if will blow fuses or burn on a "hot" circuit, or activate a ground circuit.

Other "shorts" are when two wires melt together and connect things that shouldn't be connected.

That being said, I doubt your problem is a short. You could have too much load on the cyl light circuit, but I doubt that too. I would try replacing the bulb with an LED, they don't run hot. Or take it out for now just to eliminate the bulb circuit as the possibility.

Oh, and one more thing for the OP. A fire extinguisher is NEVER overkill. Want to see pictures of my friend's rig after he burnt it down?

:couch2:

 

[BrianSD_42]

A "short" in an electrical circuit is basically a circuit that is not following it's normal path and is taking a "short" circuit. The most common being a short to ground, which if will blow fuses or burn on a "hot" circuit, or activate a ground circuit.

You are right that we haven't confirmed the wires were hot, and why didn't the fuse blow?

 

[KaliKid]

[MENTION=102597]IBallEngineer[/MENTION] show us the pics!

Maybe it's heating up because of my sound system in my truck. It's been acting funny lately.

 

[having fun]

[MENTION=102597]IBallEngineer[/MENTION] show us the pics!

Maybe it's heating up because of my sound system in my truck. It's been acting funny lately.

Sorry Bro, not familiar with the ANDY mod for your gen. haven't got time yet to look at it either right now.

Best senerio, back track what you did on the mod, re read the instructions.
As posted before me, follow your wiring on the heat transfer.

And never put any add on high power consumtion tapped into you factory wiring, STEREO.

Don't think the heater or the light would produce enough heat to get the key that hot either.



You go boy, 35'S, you all making it harder on me now.

 

[IBallEngineer]

[MENTION=102597]IBallEngineer[/MENTION] show us the pics!

OK, first a poser shot of what it looked like when I first built it. That is 35K invested at that point. Including a color change, bobbed bed, D44's front and back, etc.

Now here it is on the side of the road. This was not an electrical fire, but the results are the same. A quicker reaction and a fire extinguisher might have saved it.

~original[/IMG]

Here it is before I dismantled it, pretty sad really

~original[/IMG]

 

[BrianSD_42]

Sorry to see those pics man. That must have been horrible.

What caused it if not electrical issues?


Btw OP, here is what I use for ALL my non-factory electronics....



* Blue Sea Systems Fuse Block Ato 6 Circuit with Ground



:girl:

 

[IBallEngineer]

Sorry to see those pics man. That must have been horrible.

What caused it if not electrical issues?

The owner was flat towing it and left it in LOW range, the transmission fluid boiled out the filler tube and started the fire. When I first heard about it I thought it might have been something I did. Even though I used those same Blue Sea fuse blocks, and those same circuit breakers on all my projects including that one.
Once I got it to my shop I quickly found the locked up transmission and the T/C shifter was still in Low.

:sadwave:

 

[BrianSD_42]

so you built it but someone else owned it?

towing it in gear sounds a bit crazy. is that normal?

 

[IBallEngineer]

so you built it but someone else owned it?

towing it in gear sounds a bit crazy. is that normal?

No not normal, the t/c must be in neutral. And yes I built it for someone else. I did about one build up a year the last 6 or 7 years I owned my shop.

 

[KaliKid]

Damn, crazy pics I'm sorry to see those! Also that's one of the best "poser shots" I've ever seen. Need to find me a car to post up on hahah. Glad everyone is ok. Im experimenting with the 4wd to see if I can get another reaction (hot ignition) to follow the wires back to the source. That fuse box looks handy! I might need to pick one of those up myself.

@havingfun it's been a while. Let's get a trip going soon or at least a meet up.

I'm going out on trail again tonight and I'll see if I can trace the hot ignition back to it's source..

Again thanks for all your help and input everyone.

 

[nissanh]

power draw

Just got back from a short hour trip in 4 wheel high/AWD mode in my 02 through the snow and mud. I parked in my driveway and went to turn my car off when I noticed the ignition was really hot and so was my key. Any suggestions for what this could be or what could cause this to happen? I just stepped up to 35"s and had the Andy mod turned on.

Thanks in advance

What kind of accessories you have in your truck?

Where do you pull +12 v for all of these?

Using any accessories WITHOUT proper relays may have caused the contacts inside the ignition switch to wear out. This causes poor connection and sparks can jump between points causing your ignition to heat up.

I am planning to do a thread on how to use relays through fuses and such in the coming week or so.

 

[KaliKid]

Well I am only running aftermarket blinkers that are hard wired in and a stero system that Is properly fused and run so I couldn't imagine either of these causing a problem. The Andy mod is done right, soldered and heat shrunk wrapped under the dash. No other accessories other than my radar and phone charger in the cig lighter outlets