What does it means when smoke is coming out of the steering wheel column?

Question:
I noticed on Christmas Eve that my car had this terrible burning smell. At first it smelled like rotten eggs, but now it smells like rubber or paper burning. The car basically sat for a week until Jan. 2nd. the smell was still there but seemed like it was going away. I took it to a mechanic on friday, and he said he couldn't find anything. Well on Saturday, i'm out shopping and i see smoke coming out of the steering wheel column. At first i thought i was tripping, till I saw it again. I tried showing it to my father and he said he didn't see anything. He says its okay to drive it, but i don't think so. I just feel that smoke in that area is not normal nor is it okay. Am i'm wrong for thinking/feeling that? Am being overparanoid? Has this happened to anyone?
Please help me out, I'm looking for anything and welcome all questions, comments and/or concerns. :-) by the way it's a 99 chevy cavalier, if that helps...........Thanks

Answers:

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The last time I had smoke coming out of the steering column (yes, this has happened more than once to me, but the other time, the cause was so weird and complicated it's not likely to happen to you), it was on an old Triumph Spitfire where the high beam switch had caught on fire. Even though Chevy's electronics are a lot better than those on old British cars, I still suspect that it's an electrical fire.

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There are a few other possibilities, but they all involve smoke you would see under the hood while the engine is running. I'd crank it up (with a fire extinguisher handy!) and see if anything under the hood smokes - if not, it's likely to be a slow-burning electrical fire.

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And a car with burning electronics is not safe to drive. There are too many things that could go wrong, from other things catching on fire to the engine suddenly quitting.

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The good news is that it's probably burnt to the point that anyone who can disassemble the electronics in the steering column can find it.

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Its burning oil, it sounds like its getting to hot, it might even be a belt, but id go with the oil thing

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it could be oil burning smell but there are a lot of wires running thru the column they could be shorting out when you have the steering wheel in a certain position,have mechanic check to be sure

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Take it to another shop and have them diagnose the problem. tell them that you took it to anotehr shop and they found nothing but the problem still presists. That would be your best bet.

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my car had a similar problem. it was the switch in the steering column for the directional signals. The smoke came out 1 time then didn't do it again for a couple months then smoked again and the directionals quit working. I was told that this was a common problem on the Beretta's and I assume that the cavalier would use a similar switch.

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could be that your " multi function switch " is shorting out get that checked before something serious happens.

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Your battery is the culprit is the only thing that may smell like rotten eggs.
you need to replace the alternator because is overcharging the battery and might burn it. the battery

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P.S. the wiring are only suffering the high voltage,that why the are hot.
please trust me on this.
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