Hello, I was at the store the other day and I went to start my car and I noticed a slight burning smell and a small bit of smoke coming from the steering column. I got a bit scared and immediately had it towed home. Now after not having driven it for a few days I went out to start it and it starts up fine, signals, lights, wipers, etc all work but I notice the temperature gauge stays at max and there is a constant chiming after the car is started and all doors are closed and seat belt is on. All other gauges work fine and the car seems to drive fine since I drove it up the street to test it. Any idea as to what happened, and is it safe to continue driving if I disable that annoying chime? Thanks.

 

Welcome to the forum. You obviously have an electrical short somewhere, not enough to blow a fuse (or is there a blown fuse?). I've also heard that some aftermarket fuse wouldn't blow at the rated amperage. If this is a disposable vehicle, go ahead and drive it but carry a fire extinguisher. If not, get it serviced before it catches fire.