Jsunami
04-23-2015, 06:03 PM
First, thank you for taking the time to read through my story. Any response is greatly appreciated.
When I got home from work today, my son came out to tell me his sister left the windshield wipes on in the '88 Accord. I was a bit puzzled because when you turn off the car and remove the key, the windshield wipers SHOULD NOT continue to work. He also said the car smelled funny when he went to turn them off. When I got to the car, sure enough, everything worked as though the ignition was in the "accessory" position and there was a distinct electrical burning smell.
I took the key and started the car, at which point the electrical smell started to dissipate. When I turned off the ignition and removed the key, the engine did not turn off, but the radio did. At this point the electrical smell started again so I decided to put the key back in and turn in back over to the run position and called my locksmith buddy for advice. He had me remove the shroud and explained how to turn the ignition off with a screw driver, told me to call him back when I got it turned off. Well apparently I was pulling out screws that I shouldn't so he told me to just wait until he got there.
With the car still running, he proceeded to remove the electrical harness from the back of the ignition. While he was doing that, my son noticed a lot of smoke (and he thinks flames) coming from under the passenger seat. My son ran for the fire extinguisher and my buddy ran to disconnect the battery. In hind sight, it probably would have been best to do this in the beginning, but alas that did not happen.
With the battery disconnected, he was able to totally disengage the harness from the back of the ignition and show me how to start/stop with a screwdriver. We hooked up the battery and tried starting the car, but nothing happened. I'm guessing this has to do with the smoking box under the passenger seat but I am looking for input here. I see a trip to the junk yard this weekend and wonder what I should be looking for.
Questions:
1. What is your opinion of the initial problem (key off but acts like accessory mode - then key off engine still running)
2. What is/was that smoking box under the passenger seat? Likely needs replacing?
3. I'm guessing ignition needs replaced?
4. Is it likely the ignition harness needs replaced as well?
When I got home from work today, my son came out to tell me his sister left the windshield wipes on in the '88 Accord. I was a bit puzzled because when you turn off the car and remove the key, the windshield wipers SHOULD NOT continue to work. He also said the car smelled funny when he went to turn them off. When I got to the car, sure enough, everything worked as though the ignition was in the "accessory" position and there was a distinct electrical burning smell.
I took the key and started the car, at which point the electrical smell started to dissipate. When I turned off the ignition and removed the key, the engine did not turn off, but the radio did. At this point the electrical smell started again so I decided to put the key back in and turn in back over to the run position and called my locksmith buddy for advice. He had me remove the shroud and explained how to turn the ignition off with a screw driver, told me to call him back when I got it turned off. Well apparently I was pulling out screws that I shouldn't so he told me to just wait until he got there.
With the car still running, he proceeded to remove the electrical harness from the back of the ignition. While he was doing that, my son noticed a lot of smoke (and he thinks flames) coming from under the passenger seat. My son ran for the fire extinguisher and my buddy ran to disconnect the battery. In hind sight, it probably would have been best to do this in the beginning, but alas that did not happen.
With the battery disconnected, he was able to totally disengage the harness from the back of the ignition and show me how to start/stop with a screwdriver. We hooked up the battery and tried starting the car, but nothing happened. I'm guessing this has to do with the smoking box under the passenger seat but I am looking for input here. I see a trip to the junk yard this weekend and wonder what I should be looking for.
Questions:
1. What is your opinion of the initial problem (key off but acts like accessory mode - then key off engine still running)
2. What is/was that smoking box under the passenger seat? Likely needs replacing?
3. I'm guessing ignition needs replaced?
4. Is it likely the ignition harness needs replaced as well?