harness plug getting hot

I was just down in the garage again checking the connections. One thing MIGHT be an issue, maybee not. To align the steering column (centerd) in the collar we used shims we made from washers when we bolted the column back up underneath the dash. Reason being, was getting a loud squeak again last summer when turning the wheel lock to lock or in tight space. This kept the center column from scraping/touching the collar. It worked, no more squeal. Anyhow I just removed the ground wire to ground it anyplace else it would reach metal underneath the dash to no avail. Still no fuel gauge- and the one harness plug still pretty hot.