Hello, I went to start my 91 honda yesterday and the ignition got stuck in the on position. The key was stuck what seemed like a little past the on position like right before the starter begins to grind if you turn the key to far. The ignition locked up in that position and would not turn any more to turn off. I put the cars automatic trans. in to reverse and drive but the ignition would not un-lock still. After tring to manipulate the ignition for a while the key pulled out of the ignition. I finally figured that I would not be able to force the ignition off and that I would need to cut the power off some how. I opened the hood and began to think of some way that I could cut the power with out harming the engine. I was at a loss so as I was tring to figure out what to do I notice smoke starting to come up under the batttery unit and could hear the coolant bubbling and could smell the coolant buning in the smoke that was coming up. Then the car began to die as the smoke still came up from under the battery. As the car died after it was running in the park postion for about 40 minutes. The car was trying to restart it self after it had died out, I could hear the starter tring to click over and over again as it was tring to start on its own again . I disconnected the battery so that it would not start up on its own but it did not sound like it was going to be able to start up on its own agian. I need help, I would think that It was just the ignition, but the smoking coolant throughs in a curve ball since the smoking coolant ended up making my car turn off.

 

sounds bad to me,,, your starter is probly damaged and you may have overheated the engine by letting it sit running so long.
Anyways ,, i think you have a bad ignition switch whitch is locked on "start" position.
PS get a new one ,,,, and id look for new starter while I was at it.
Best of luck

 

was it coolant burning from an overheated engine or the battery bubbling? For future referance you could have just pulled the main fuse to kill the car.... and it sounds like either the ignition switch is bad/worn or perhaps it's the key itself, if a small piece of the key came off and jammed the ignition switch then it wouldn't allow you to turn it off since it wouldn't match the tumblers properly... Get the ignition fixed first (perhaps just try a different key....) then start troubleshooting the other stuff.... did the temp guage ever go up into the red?

 

I do not think that is was the battery bubbling. It still seems to work ok. The smell that was coming up with the smoke was a coolant type along with a stench of rubber. I am hoping that it was not transmison fluid that was buring. The location was underneth my battery. Which I am thinking could be one of the hoses coming out of the block to the radiator or it might have been coming from the transmision dip stick resivour. Well am leaving to go tow my car back and take a closer look. I will be corisponding latter.

 

Sounds like maybe you had a dead short somewhere and one of the battery cables might have got very hot and melted something up in the battery area, maybe a coolant hose or the reservoir itself. Hard to tell without seeing it, but I'm pretty sure it started with the faulty ignition switch. Everything should be fused in that car, but who knows, electricity is funny stuff sometimes. If you have ever seen a car battery completely shorted out, then you know how hot it can get real quick.

 

I finally got the ignition unstuck by using the back up key. The car started right up right after the battery was charged for a while. But after the car started once it know does not want to turn over. I took the battery back to kragen and the battery checked out ok and was recharged. I tried starting it again but it still will not turn over and seems to be taking alot of juice out of the battery after each attempt to turn over ie..the service lights and clock seem to dim with every turn of the key not quite turning over and starting . I replace tthe alternater in the car a couple of months ago which was the reason for the last post with the "s" light tuning on. The symptoms seem different then a problem with the alternator . Could the heat that was generated in the last incident described with the ignition be the cause of the car not turn over and the amount of charge being pulled with each start attempt be related somehow. Overheatiing and buring out some thing that is causeing the car to not start like the battery leads of the starter, I am not sure. Any leads will be much appreciated thanks Chad.

 

If you have an O'Reillys or Autozone nearby, they can check the starter, battery, alternator, etc. O'Reillys in Champaign, IL had a new tester that checked everything out in about 5 min. I have always been impressed w/ O'Reillys.

You might have fried your starter or the battery cable leading to it. Follow the + cable to the starter and look for signs of damage. The starter on my 95 is close to the battery, so you could have had smoke coming from the starter or a shorting + battery cable. If you have a volt meter, you can check for ~12V from the + battery connection at the starter to ground.

Were your cooling fans running when the ignition was stuck and are you sure that it was engine coolant burning? If you somehow burnt a hole in a coolant line, you should still have a leak or be pretty low on coolant.

Good Luck!

 

I did find that I need to add alot of coolent to tbe radiator and the resivor after the smoke was spoted. I am going to check my car for the starter problem and check the volt and I will get back to the forum once that I checked Thanks Chad

 

does it make any noise when it fails to crank over or anything? a clicking noise perhaps?

 

There seems to be no clicking sound. It now just will not turn over. I charged the battery but it will not start up at all. The component lights and the clock turn on and and are bright when I put the key in the ignition but it will not turn over so the battery continues to be demiished. To check the wires coming from the battery with a meter to see if it is 12v, does the engine need to be on and running to do so? There does not seem to be any burnt wires that I have come across yet or hoses that where burnt through. ANy thing else that I can try would be appreciated.Thanks Chad