00 galant blowing engine fuse and cuts out. Smoke from steering column HELP!

00 galant keeps blowing engine fuse and dies. Then it won't restart till the car sits for at least 24 hours. About a month ago the car started rough and I noticed a wisp of smoke, very small amount, but still noticeable, from the steering column. This happened 2 or 3 times. Then the car decided to cut out and die on me while driving blowing the engine fuse #13 in the engine fuse box. I tried unplugging every sensor that I can reach on the top and bottom of the engine and by process of elimination tried starting the car to see which one was causing the fault. Nothing. Popped out the rear seat to check out the fuel pump and not that either. Now I'm to the point of cutting apart the wire to try to find any that are fused or bubbled or anything out of the ordinary. Is there anyone that has had this happen? Any recommendations to avoid the time consuming process of tracing wires? HELP PLEASE!!!

Try to locate the exact place where you noticed the smoke and inspect surrounding area well. Since you noticed some smoke probably there must be something burnt.
May be the ignition switch wiring harness, check for any short.

OK yeah I took apart the dash and the was looking for anything noticable but didn't see anything right away. I'm going to separate the wires and see if I can see anything. I replaced the engine control relay yesterday also but that wasn't it. I'm guessing there is a f'd up wire somewhere in the dash. It's gotta be. I thought it might be the fuel pump bc the car died twice right after getting gas. But that's fine too. I'll methodically go through the wiring harnesses in the steering column today and see if there is a short

You were right... The ignition switch was Burt real bad so replaced that today. Thought that for sure was the problem causing the engine control fuse to blow... But it's still blowing!

may be too much current ran through your ignition switch. better not put a new one before you figure it out the problem or you may end up burn it out again. check you starting system circuit like starter, battery cables, etc..

does the fuse blows after starting the car or key turns only to on position? also check the Ignition coil/s. bad or over heated coils may draw high current and blow the fuse off.

Shamil,
were you able to determine what was causing engine fuse 13 and ignition switch to blow / burn (is vehicle 02 2.4 or 3.0)?
Also, what was procedure for removing / replacing just ignition switch (not lock cylinder)?

There was also a recall on the 2000 V6 models,
NHTSA Campaign ID Number: 99V333001 Recall Date: 11/23/1999
Component - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BATTERY:CABLES
Summary:
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH V6 ENGINES AND FEDERAL EMISSION EQUIPMENT. THE BATTERY CABLE HARNESS CAN BECOME HEAT DAMAGED BY THE FRONT EXHAUST MANIFOLD WHICH COULD CAUSE GROUNDED CIRCUITS.
Consequence:
THIS CIRCUIT FAILURE COULD CAUSE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TO OCCUR: (1) THE ENGINE WILL NOT START BECAUSE THE MAIN FUSE WILL BLOW IF THE POWER LEAD IS GROUNDED; (2) THE LOW OIL PRESSURE WARNING LAMP WILL ILLUMINATE IF THE SIGNAL WIRE IS GROUNDED; (3) THE AIRCONDITIONING SYSTEM WILL BECOME INOPERATIVE IF THE LEAD TO THE MAGNETIC CLUTCH IS GROUNDED; AND (4) THE TURN SIGNAL/HAZARD LAMPS WILL BECOME INOPERATIVE IF THE VOLTAGE MONITOR LEAD IS GROUNDED.
What Owners Should Do
DEALERS WILL REMOVE AND DISCARD A METAL MANIFOLD BRACKET (FROM GALANT MODELS ONLY - ECLIPSE HAS NO SUCH BRACKET). DEALERS WILL ALSO INSPECT THE HARNESS. IF THE HARNESS WIRES SHOW NO DAMAGE, THE DEALER WILL INSTALL A HEAT INSULATOR ALONG WITH HEAT RESISTANT HARNESS CLIPS. IF THE HARNESS WIRES DO SHOW DAMAGE, THE DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW HARNESS WITH PREINSTALLED INTEGRAL HEAT PROTECTION.

Here is thread about same issue. Defective 02 sensor was possibly causing the issue;
http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-...s-blowing.html

Another thread with crank sensor causing the issue;
http://www.club3g.com/forum/problem-...fuse-13-a.html

Another with wiring issue causing the problem;
http://www.justanswer.com/mitsubishi...ntly-2001.html

Hear is some snapshots from the manual, may be useful for you
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...psurvqursi.png
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...pszmtmguot.png