Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

So about an hour ago i just changed my oil and was taking the old oil to a nearby autozone. After i was leaving i hear a sort of zapping sound(like electrical current) and then plooms of smoke start coming from my stering column. I pull over and find out that There is a White w/ blue stripe wire that had pretty much caught on fire(right underneath the stearing column). I don't have my haynes handy, can anyone tell me what wire it is? Everything on my car seems to be in working order. Also, i do not have a stereo in my car(it was stolen) and could it possibly be the power wire for the stereo? What would cause this to happen? Any input would be apreciated, thanks.

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

Did the fuse for the radio blow. If it didn't, then that was probably the ignition wire. I can't remember, as I'm in my office right now, but if it is the thicker wire, I think it is the igntion wire. Any short will cause sparking and smoking, but if it is a fused lead, it should blow the fuse after a very short time. Sorry I couldn't be more exact, but I'd have to see it to know.

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

Ill try to get a pic of the exact wire and where it leads to, i just don't feel like taking my console apart and stuff right now. Thank you though.

Anyone else know?

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

Yeah... its your radio .. or instrument cluster power source.....

damn.....

check if your cluster light works????? or even if your gauges power up?

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

Yeah they do work, like a said everything works. My guess would be that it was something for the stereo. Anyone know? Or can someone possible look to see where it runs to?Its white w/ a blue stripe. Right under the stearing column. You just have to pull off that little cover that has two screws in it.

Thanks for the input guys, anyone else?

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

The book says radio....

does your clock work???

Check your fuse box.... might be loaded with a wrong fuse? usually this ---- would just pop and no current... but a fire... damn ... that sucks

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

If its the fatty white wire, then its the hot wire to the igntion.

It might be a set of worn tumblers inside the ignition assembly/cylinder the contact points might have worn/losen themselves and moved to a point where they touched and shorted. It is pretty common to wear out the cylinder contacts, especially if you have a lot of keys/doodads on your keyring(i have done it before)

Re:Little electrical fire, Have some questions.
 

Well, i followed it, it goes from the fuse block under the steering column to a little fuse type thing. I beleive it's iether for the clock, or radio. Where can i get another wire that is the same gauge or whatever(dont know jack about this stuff) and same color? Will Honda have it?

Thanks for the help guys. Anyone know what might have caused this to happen?