Hopefully by the time anyone can reply I'll have the problem fixed, because I think I know what it is, but anyhow here's the problem. I went to turn my car on, and it turned on, what could be the problem with this you might ask? After I started the car smoking came from the area of the electronic ignition, my first thought was, "crap, I've spent over a thousand dollars on this thing and it's just going to catch fire on me?" but I was lucky, it stopped smoking and my car just shut itself off. I was bewildered, and I checked around. The situation: good fuses and no electrical anywhere, no radio, no headlights, and no horn. I decided to trie shorting the starter and seeing if that would get it to turn over, and the car turned over, so the problem wasn't my engine. What I think it is the problem is the electronic ignition module because I'm fairly sure that the module has to keep a spark going with the engine otherwise the engine won't stay on, I also believe that the module is the gateway for all the other electronics to work, and the most important thing is that it was in the location that the nice smoke show came from. If it's not the ignition module then the only other thing I could think of is the ignition switch, which didn't smoke. If anyone had any other possibilities I would be very happy to hear them, I don't really like the idea of my car sitting in front of Tidyman's for a long time.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Check your fusible links. They smoke when they go.

second the fusible link(s)

Before you replace them you need to find what made it/them blow first though. Could be the link(s) are just old and finally blew, but I think it more likely you have a short in the ignition wiring somewhere.

-S/6

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The "Silver Bullet"
87 Ram D150

Okay, here's an update: my car is home(thanks to a scary tow situation), and I've replaced two part to no avail. I replaced the electronic ignition module, and the relay thingy of a jig next to the engine, the module was original(it was rusting even), and so was the relay(it didn't even look like it should of worked). I don't know if they would have caused a short, but they were ugly. As for the fusible links, is that the white thing on the driver's side fairly close to the ignition module? If not, what are the fusible links, where are they, and what do they look like? Thanks, by the time I get this fixed my car my be sporting an all-around new ignition system .

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Oh, if the white thing's not the fusible links I was wondering what it is. You see, whatever it is it's cracked and looks like it's seen better days, if it's not too important I won't replace it, if it is important I will. If I can wait I would rather wait, I've already spent eighty dollars on this problem.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

The fusible link looks like a wire but has thicker insulation on it, and a small plastic tag that says fusible link on it. Usually it is directly attached to one of the bulkhead connecters on the firewall, but I believe some models had them attached directly to the battery cable or somewhere close by. You can't miss it once you find the tag. If enough of it burnt, which it did by the sounds of your description, I bet you could probably see the copper. Don't expect ti to be shiny copper or anything, it will be all gunked up from the burnt link material.

I found the fusible link, and it looks good. The tags easy to read, the connector near it looks find, and the wire surround looks unscathed. Nothing is bright copper, but it looks like what most thirty year old metal would look like, could it have been internal burn and still be bad? I.E. should I replace even if it doesn't look burn or try something else(though at this point I don't know what)

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Also, check to make sure no hoses or wire hit the exhaust manifold, espeically in the back of the engine near the firewall. Been there, done that.

Usually you can see a burned fusible link, but sometimes it's not so apparent. If you can borrow a multi-meter somewhere, you can check to see if the link circuit is broken. If you can't get a meter, I would use a wire to TEMPORARILY jump the circuit to see if everything comes to life.

That's a very good idea, I'll update about what happens as soon as I can get a multi-matter from my dad(6:15 in the morning, he wouldn't like me getting him up).

When a fusible link fails, the wire burns away inside the insulation. So you are left with only the insulation. If you wiggle both ends of a failed link, it will feel very soft because there will be a void in the wire.

Mitch

Thanks so much! It was the fusible link, I was looking for something badly burned but as Mitch said, there was only insulation. My car runs now, and thanks to the relay and the new ignition it runs a lot better(though they didn't kill it, they both work even if they both worked badly).