Hey all!

I just bought a 94 Camaro V6 3.4 5 speed (yay!) and had it towed to my house this afternoon. It has a blown head gasket, so I have to do some work before I can make it a driver. At any rate, I tried to start her up and to my surprise got a nice flow of smoke from the steering column with the smell of burning plastic when I moved the key to the ignition point. Turned it off and let the smoke clear, and now it won't even crank. Obviously, something shorted out...

I'm assuming the ignition switch shorted out, but I haven't taken apart the steering column yet. Has anyone experienced this before or have any ideas? Feedback is appreciated.

Mike

 

First a silly question. If it has a blown head gasket, why are you trying to start it? In a way its kind of a good thing that you found out this problem now rather than after you fixed the engine problem. Lucky that your notlooking for a new car cause that one didnt burn to the ground. This isthe first I have heard of Camaros having this problem. Could be a # of things. Did the car not want to start, so you held the key in the start position for a extended amount of time? How long did the car sit before you received it, animals can do a number on interior wiring. Will your interior dash lights come on now when the key is in the on position? Is there a remote starter added to your car that could have malfunctioned. Now the real dumb question,,,Is the battery properly hooked up +to + - to -? Had to ask.

 

All good questions. Yes, the gasket is blown but I was starting it to move it from the street to my driveway, so I figured I'd have a little breathing room before worrying about warping the engine or anything too disasterous.

Battery is hooked up properly. The dashlights do turn on, in fact all of the electrical appears to work normally when the key is on. Just no crankin'... The car was sitting for 12 months at the previous owners house. There is no remote starter hooked up to the car.

That said, I'm thinking the ignition switch is dead (based on the smoke from the steering column)... I just want to make sure I'm going down the right path before I take things apart.

 

I dont think its the switch it self. You should pull the panels off under the steering column and look at all the wiring/connectors to see what burned up. Im not sure if you can replace just the ignition switch, i think you have to replace the whole column(but thats easy)

 

Yeah, if I can get home someday this week with some daylight left, I plan to do that. I think the ignition switch is a separate component because I purchased a replacement already.

Out of curiosity, where does someone buy a replacement steering column? If I have to do that, will I be scouring ebay or can Napa find me something?

 

ebay usually carries the steering columns between 30 and 80 bucks... good luck.



"as long as i have torque, i shall prosper victoriously"

 

i would call up a local junk yard

 

also, you might want to remember to disconnect the battery before you take a look at the wiring in the steering column..in case any of the wires are bare which could be the case judging by the amount of heat generated from somewhere in there