Steering Shaft short on ignition switch possible?

[frumharlem]

I am rebuilding my steering shaft and replacing my switch for the 3rd time this week. When I put the last one in, I checked the switch for constant, then turning to Assec, then on and crank. I check each wire at each key position for power, BEFORE putting column back together.
I noticed a small spark when I turned the key a position. The little black/ charcoal gray cam the bitches into the cylinder lock was where is sparked from. I the. Noticed there is some lateral play in my shaft. The shaft kind of has a flat taper in that section.
but with the okay, the steel shaft ca definitely touch that ignition switch cam. if that supposed to happen?
I taped the shaft to prevent the arc if it touched on the road.

see pics

 

[SGBARRACUDA]

It shouldn’t with the top section in place. The top section has a bearing in it that prevents that.

 

[67Dart273]

Nothing on the outside of the switch should have any electrical function except the wire terminals themselves. Are the switches coming from the same source? My first thought is they are defective, AKA have an internal short to the case/ shaft/ cam.

 

[frumharlem]

It shouldn’t with the top section in place. The top section has a bearing in it that prevents that.

Right that makes sense. I tested it without the bearing of course. It contacted the shaft and arced.

I am still stuck. I went out and purchased a Short Tracer and just realized I cannot use it! The Main in-line fuse is that is blowing! In order to trace you must remove the fuse that blows and connect to the terminals the fuse connects. But, if the fuse is not connected, I cannot energize the tone module ! So I am stuck in the mud still.

 

[Demonracer]

Sounds like a dead short somewhere down the column that you can't see. I had a friend that replaced his switch & his tach was screwed to the top of the column. He wondered why one screw was longer than the other, he found out quickly. The long screw contacted the hot wire in the harness & shorted it to ground. He swapped out the harness & put short screws in to not repeat the incident.