71 ignition getting hot

[71charger]

the other day on my way home my chargers ignition would die at stop lights. everything shuts off the engine headlights etc. as if someone killed the ignition. now after running it for a min the ignition is getting hot at the key and underside.

[myk]

Whenever I experienced your type of problem it was trouble with the bulkhead connectors.  As for the "heat" you're experiencing I don't know about that...

[MaximRecoil]

the other day on my way home my chargers ignition would die at stop lights. everything shuts off the engine headlights etc. as if someone killed the ignition. now after running it for a min the ignition is getting hot at the key and underside.

If your ignition switch is getting hot, that suggests high resistance in the switch or at the terminals. The switch may need to be replaced, or the terminals that push onto the switch may be corroded or otherwise bad, or the wires that are crimped into the terminals may be frayed.

Your headlights are not on the ignition circuit (that's why you can turn them on when the engine is off), so when everything dies at stop lights, including the headlights, that's a problem that goes beyond anything ignition-related. Start by checking all your connections, especially your heavy grounds from the engine block and chassis to the negative battery post (it is a good idea to sand to bare metal under each ground wire's ring terminal, and clean the terminal itself to bare copper as well, coat with grease, and tighten them back down good). The headlights circuit runs through the bulkhead connector, as does the ignition circuit (though they are separate circuits in separate cavities), so you may want take a brush and contact cleaner (like DeoxIT) and clean the male and female copper terminals of the bulkhead connector, and pack them with dielectric grease to prevent future oxidation.

[nascarxx29]

Check the electrical and underhood heat transfers and causes heat on the column

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,83529.msg937261/topicseen.html#msg937261