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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?

Dr_Snooz
04-23-2015, 07:19 PM
At the least, you should take a look at the ignition switch. Look for worn contacts, burn spots, etc. Under the seat, your choices are:



Power door lock control unit
Automatic seat belt control unit
Sunroof relays
Radiator fan timer control unit

Jsunami
04-24-2015, 07:52 AM
At the least, you should take a look at the ignition switch. Look for worn contacts, burn spots, etc. Under the seat, your choices are:



Power door lock control unit
Automatic seat belt control unit
Sunroof relays
Radiator fan timer control unit

I assume the ignition switch is the whiteish plastic piece he removed from the back of the key cylinder with about 6 or so wires soldered to it.

I had no idea there we that many things under the passenger seat, or are they all part of the same black box?

Dr_Snooz
04-24-2015, 07:44 PM
I assume the ignition switch is the whiteish plastic piece he removed from the back of the key cylinder with about 6 or so wires soldered to it.

That's it.


I had no idea there we that many things under the passenger seat, or are they all part of the same black box?

Naw, they're all different. The manual identifies them all on p. 25-8.

Jsunami
04-24-2015, 11:02 PM
Alright, pulled the passenger seat to see where the smoke was coming from. It was 5. NONE OF THE ABOVE. There is a connection under the carpet next to the door jamb for the sunroof relays. That connection was burned and a couple of wires melted through.

So it looks like I have a couple of issues: Need to splice in a new connection for the relays and a new ignition harness. I'm not convinced one had anything to do with the other, just poor timing.

ryan427
04-27-2015, 03:13 PM
I just got the joke... Title of your post. Genius.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oldblueaccord
04-28-2015, 10:04 PM
See if you can spot a water leak. If the floor is getting wet it could be shorting some wires out.