Short in Ignition system.. ideas on where to look.

[endeffect0]

OK. so this is going to be a pain in the ass. Its in the beginner section because i don't know where to put it.

My keyed ignition system was rewired over the summer, Hill climb rues 'strongly suggest' removing steering wheel locks, so i went with a push button start setup.
the wiring is mostly stock, i just have a switch for 'ON' and a button for the starter rather than a key.


Rather than draw power from the main harness i have it pulling power from the variable side of the kill switch. between that terminal and the ignition harness i have an in dash 30A fuse. mostly to protect from any wiring shorts between the kill switch and the harness. Their are NONE.
the problem come up some where after the stock wiring.


SYMPTOMS.
Once the car is good an hot (aggressive driving for a min or two) the fuse will sometimes pop when i drop throttle hard or hit a big bump. It will some times run just fine even under WOT if I dont need to feather the gas. learned this in the snow last night. I lose all power when this fuse pops because it effectively turns the 'key off'

once you replace the fuse everything is back to normal. driving responsibly will avoid the problem completely 99.9991% of the time. the size of the fuse does not matter 40A-10A the car will run fine till its good and hot and you drop it hard. SOMETHING is shorting out.


No idea where to start looking for this. My gut tells me its the ignition system, becuase i had a odd. misfire a few weeks back for 2 days that cleared it self... but i cant figure out where to look.

Any thoughts are appreciated!!

 

[willydsm]

I would start by checking all connections( battery, starter, alternator,) both power and grounds, it sounds like a wire is grounding out on metal somewhere, wires when they get warmed up become more flexable , look for any wires with missing rubber too that might be touching metal, all it takes is a little piece of bare(+) wire to touch metal(-) somewhere to create this problem.

 

[endeffect0]

wires when they get warmed up become more flexable ,

All main connections are solid. as are the ones i have made to the wire harness in the car.

But your mention of softer wires is the first hint at what could be going on. I had not found anything that would have related this to engine temp in the way i have seen it behave. but flexible wire... hummm.


I am thinking of removing the safety fuse i have in my dash because i know the problem is not in the ignition harness. With out that fuse in the loop the short should just pop a fuse in my fuse box correct? this could be a way of narrowing it down.

 

[willydsm]

^Correct^, and i am saying a cold wire is more stiff as a warm wire is not, a warm wire is more prone to sagging and hitting something, and moving around more as you drive>(Once the car is good an hot) (aggressive driving for a min or two) < your words

 

[endeffect0]

no no i get ya. Just something i hadn't thought of. thanks!