Smoke from steering column? ahhhh!

[justaZcarguy]

So, I am heading down the highway on the way home from work, exit the off ramp as per usual and at the stop light, I notice smoke coming from the hole for the turn signal.

Holy :tapemouth ! (I think to myself in an oh-so-calm manner...)

So I cut the lights and it does not seem to go away, so naturally I blow on it. Am I attempting to start the fire or stop it??:stupid:

After a bit and a lot of watching, said smoke goes away.

I watched this damn thing more than the road I think, it never reappeared. A few miles from home, I key on the parking lights, still nothing.

Ok, try the headlamps.

Still no smoke.

I get home find the nearest phillips and remove the plastic upper and lower, start the Z, key the park lights, eventually key the headlamps.

NOTHING.

No sign of burned wires, no discoloration, no heat to the touch, both under a sustained 3 min or so slight rev to the engine and at idle.

I'm stumped.

The funny thing is, everything in there looks redone, new signal cam, the headlight and park light circut have been rerouted / seperated the correct way to eliminate the load on the switch. I run these lights (at least the park lights) every time I run the car. Day or night. This has never occourred, the only thing that was out of the ordinary was that I had sustained between 75-80 on the open highway for the last 4 miles or so. (Sudden urge, what can I say?)

I know that I am not crazy, I saw and smelled smoke.

I am leaving the cover off the column and gonna keep an eye on it for the next few trips...

Anyone else experience this? I am suprised on it, it all looks so clean and fresh compared to other columns that I have taken apart...

Suggestions?

Dave? Escanlon?

Thanks guys, sorry for the long post.

~Brian

[Nissanman]

Perhaps you fried the ignition switch contacts:ermm:

Had the same experience in my P510 years ago.

Puff of smoke then all clear.

Scary ain't it:paranoid:

Eventually, the ignition switch contacts died, needing a replacement.

I now use a relay in the starter circuit to relieve those contacts of too much work, the rest seem to cope OK.

[S30TRBO]

I had the same thing happen to me years back. Dust builds up in the contacts within the turn signal switch. Disassemble the steering column and clean the contacts with compressed air (low psi) or canned air. The dust builds up and the contacts will burn the dust within it. Good luck!

[justaZcarguy]

Well, no cover on the way to work.

That could not look more Ghetto.

Anyway, a little heat to the touch on a few wires, but nothing burning-wise.

Still no smoke, I do the low-air clean out thing and go from there.

I am still leary of this, I feel like a poltergeist is in the car.

Maybe I need a Preist.

hmmm.

~B

[Montezuma]

Had the same problem in my 73, it was my headlight contacts burning up. Had to replace the switch, luckily I had a brand new one on the shelf. It was scary.

[justaZcarguy]

Sounds to me like I may want to keep a switch handy, lemme see, do I have one of those....

[justaZcarguy]

Speaking of which, what years are compatible?

[Arne]

If we are talking the combo switch (lights and wipers) I know that the '73 and later are different due to the intermittent wipers.

There are different part numbers for various earlier ones as well, but I don't know how compatible they might be.

[justaZcarguy]

So, believe it or not I have been running with the damn column cover off the car this whole time hoping to spot our ghost smoke.

Finally, just a bit ago, it reappeared!!

HA! Gotcha!! :ogre:

(Seemed like a good place for the Orge Smiley)

It is only heating up when the right signal is keyed. The wire that is heating up is a white / red coming out of the signal, back of the switch. It seems to heat up in short time.

Ideas? Think that it's resistance in the switch?

Thanks...

~Brian

[EScanlon]

Interestingly, the WHITE/RED wire is the power wire going to the LEFT Turn Signals/Stop Lamp in the back of the car. The RIGHT side wire is White/BLACK.

But, and this has happened on other switches, it may be that the wiring colors on the switch side of the connection to the wiring harness have been inverted. The only way to verify this is to follow the W/R wire back to the connector and see if it's corresponding wire (on the dash side of the wiring connector) is also W/R or if it is W/B.

If it IS W/B then everything lines back up again, that is, your RH turn signal is the one that is causing the heating up of the wire.

If on the other hand, it's W/R then a different problem/situation is evident.

In either / both cases, go to the back of the car, and check both the grounds for each of the tail-lights AND the individual bulbs and their sockets. Too many times it is some form of corrosion specifically AT the rear of the car that causes many problems up front.

FWIW

E

[justaZcarguy]

Thanks E!!

I will check that....

[awsm73z]

I think it is a resistance issue. This happened to me many years ago in the evening and it scared the hell out of me. When I got home, I took the covers off the steering column and poked around. I noticed that one of the wires on the turn signal switch (I don't remember which one) was ready to break off at the solder point. I merely resoldered it and haven't had a problem since.

Adrian