kiwijohn

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but have tried to search for the answer here first.

I've got a New Zealand assembled 1996 Honda Civic (EH9 1.6L injected manual transmission sedan). About two years ago, the ignition switch failed on me - (the ON contacts would open when I turned the key to START) and I fixed it by disassembling the ignition switch and using fine sandpaper and contact cleaner on the contacts.

It failed again two days ago. I did the same fix to get it working but this time I never immediately re-attached the steering column cover. After driving for around 20 minutes, the back of one of the solder blobs gets hot. Not burning hot, but definitely too hot to hold your finger on for more than say 5 seconds. I'm thinking this might be related to the failure I had, either due to something drawing a high current, or the contacts in the switch failing. It could also have been hot for the last 2 years of use and I just never noticed due to putting the cover back on.

I did some testing with a voltmenter and clamp ammeter, pulling fuses while watching changes to currents, but am unsure what the normal values should be.

Does anyone know if the following are normal figures for the ignition switch?

Ignition ACC
Battery = ~0.05A dishcarge (Radio switched off)

Ignition ON - Engine stopped
Ignition switch = ~1A discharge (peaks at ~5.5A for a few seconds when first turned on - fuel pump?)
Battery = ~5A discharge (with short peak to ~9A when first turned on)
Ignition ON - Engine running
Ignition switch = ~6A discharge
Battery charge peaks at around 7A, but quickly stabilizes at around 0.75A charge

For what it's worth, when the key is in the ON position (engine not running), the ACG fuse accounts for around 5A (90%) of the current draw.

Any ideas? Are these currents normal? Is a warm terminal on the Ignition switch normal