Originally Posted by mullinator
I got smoke from the steering column of an '89 Civic which turned out to be the ignition switch contacts being worn. That car had begun to occasionally start but immediately die, also. I was on a trip when I started getting smoke, so I twisted the "Run" wire to a +12V source, effectively bypassing the contacts which were worn. I would just untwist the wires to shut the car off.
I replaced the contacts after returning home and the problems went away.
Your problem could be all sorts of things, but ignition switch contacts are a good guess. -scott
Yep. That's what i think it is. Right before i left, it cranked and died right away twice. It then cranked and ran fine. About 5 minutes later, smoke from the column appeard for about 10 seconds or so. I turned it of and it cranked right back up. I guess i'll go ahead and buy the harness before it leaves me stranded somewhere.