Hey all...I'm preparing to trace a bunk wire tomorrow in hopes of finding a short. The problem I have is that I may have to remove the instrument cluster and so I was just wondering if there is anything that I should be aware of because I'd really hate to damage this part. Thanks in advance.

 

No it's fairly straight forward. Just remove the trim behind the steering wheel. Remove the two screws. The cluster will wiggle out about 6 inches. Then reach behind and disconnect the 3 or so connectors. They can be a little tricky. But it's not too hard.

 

Ok sweet man...it all makes sense. I just didn't know if i needed to be extra careful with the plastic housing or anything. Thanks a bunch.

 

what seems to be the problem ???
have you checked any grounds yet ??? the voltage drop sould be less than .3 V before it can cause havoc !

 

Well sir, since you asked, this is actually the 3rd time this has happened. One of the hot wires that leads to my ignition switch overheats and burns it (and the surrounding wiring harness) up. The 2nd time it happened I thought it was caused by a frayed wire but yesterday my steering column was smoking again. Thankfully I think the ignition switch still works this time. But anyway, I have checked the grounds in the past but will definitely check again. I was planning on following this wire from start to finish so that I could end this electrical nightmare once and for all. If you know of something else that could cause a wire to overheat, I'm listening.

 

hmmm ..
sounds like you have a large draw somewhere.
i dont have any schematics here at home but i will take a look at the shop.
what was the wire color ???

Also check fuses and see someone might have put in a a larger fuse which instead of burning up it actually over powers the wire

 

Uuuumm...I don't think it actually runs through the fuse box before it gets to the ignition switch. I'll have to look at the diagram as well. The wire is the larger red hot one. Hopefully it'll be something I can easily find (like it's frayed somewhere in the middle or something) or else I'm gonna pay someone else to track it down.

So that I can check the grounds again carefully, all of them are generally in the same place, right? It's under the fuse box bolted to the chasis - a bunch of brown wires?

 

also pay attention what you have on when this happens. that will at least point you towards what it might be.
GL
and i will post some pics about schematics and where you should look
I will check mitchels tomorow

 

Thanks a lot man and I appreciate your help.