Intermittent shut off, white smoke under steering column
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:10 pm
A few weeks ago, my 530i started to shut off after running for a few minutes. After shutting off, the combo relay clicks and the ignition buzzer goes on and off. Thinking it was the combo relay, I soldered some of the connections but it didn't fix the issue.
Then when I was sitting in the driver seat, I noticed that right before the ignition shuts off, there was white smoke coming from under the steering column. After taking off the lower steering column cover, I couldn't determine exactly where the smoke was coming from but I suspected either the ignition switch or the wiring to the ignition switch.
To make sure it wasn't something under the dash, I removed the cover and the car has run fine and hasn't shut off since. I must have bumped whatever was causing the short, but I still want to find out the cause so it won't happen again in the future. I'm thinking I may need a new ignition switch. Any other possible ideas of things to check?
Then when I was sitting in the driver seat, I noticed that right before the ignition shuts off, there was white smoke coming from under the steering column. After taking off the lower steering column cover, I couldn't determine exactly where the smoke was coming from but I suspected either the ignition switch or the wiring to the ignition switch.
To make sure it wasn't something under the dash, I removed the cover and the car has run fine and hasn't shut off since. I must have bumped whatever was causing the short, but I still want to find out the cause so it won't happen again in the future. I'm thinking I may need a new ignition switch. Any other possible ideas of things to check?