I have a 95 pont bonn and last year while at work on the graveyard shift i had a hell of a short i was trying to light a cig with my cig lighter and it wouldnt work so i had to put it back a few times on the fourth time i put it back smoke started coming from my dash and my inside lights stardted flickering and my headlights turned on so i ran out unplugged the battery and waited a while then later plugged it in and the lights turned back on, this is the start of it ok then the lights wouldn't turn off so i went around the car checking all my electronics found that my auto trunk stopped working lights would flicker then eventually turned off and then started working with the switch, auto lights stopped working and my ignition was stuck on after taking the key out the gauges would stay on like the key was in the on position.

i checked the fuses found the the lighter wasnt burt but the engine or ignition running fuse was so i started the car changed the fuse and when i cut it off and took out the key the car kept running so i took that fuse out now when i use my lights sometimes the auto lights work and then sometimes i have to use the manual switch
i have the pass key 2 system power everything cruise control no elec shift or or performance packages and im pretty sure its a in dash short but evn to this day i unplug the battery or else in a hour my batteries dead the fuel pump still energizes with the ign but the power windows still work if the keys out of the car also trunk light doesnt work
now and i cut the cig lighter out my other acc light still works after rewiring inside lights work and everything else the car just has no sense of being off


recently someone tried to steal my car by breaking the coloumn but the bat was unplugged so after that i plugged it in and tried to start it without a key to make sure the pass key worked and it did no start but it still dont shut off

ok there is no burnt relays under the hood on the firewall a fuse in the car had burt out for the actual running of the car it seems without the fuse the engine starts and stops with the key but with the fuse the car starts but doesnt shut off even if u take the key out and walk away forcing me to remove that fuse the gauges stay on constantly regardless if u open the door or not the inside lights work like they were supposed to the gauges stay on until the car dies and the cig lighter had its own fuse when i looked into the dash the wire for the lighter was fried so i cut connection for the lighter took the fuse out of it and seperated any other wires connected to that wire by pulling that cig lghter wire apart from the rest and another strange thing is that the gauges de energize when the car is off as usual but all the gauge lights parking brake light and so forth stay on but the actual gauges gas,oil,temp,and tach work like regular also no more warning bells or sounds for key in the ignition cause car thinks key is still in and engaged



any help or comments please

Yikes...



I barely know where to begin... um...

Can you just spell out for us exactly what you've disconnected (I mean stuff that is disconnected right now, so we can eliminate it from the puzzle)? You cut the wire to the lighter, then replaced its fuse, so the interior lights are working again; is that right?

Are there any fuses in the car (including the big ones on the firewall under the hood) that won't stay good, and keep blowing out on you?

Have you pulled the gauge cluster to actually try and eyeball whatever area had the smoke coming out of it? (Exactly where was the smoke coming from; could you tell?)

So far I'm thinking that maybe your Retained Accessory Power module got fried somehow and is not releasing the relay like it'* supposed to. This could explain why your accessories still work when they're supposed to be off (i.e. ten minutes after switching off the car, or until someone opens a door, whichever occurs first)

Can you still start and stop the engine as usual using your key?