Smokey

[Crazyredhead]

I am having van troubles. I don't know what it is and I don't have any money to get it looked at. I know she is old, going on 13 years.

The problem is that when I am driving anywhere, there is smoke coming out of the dash, where the defrosters are. I have checked all of the fluids in the car, anti-freeze is good. There is no water on the engine, the smoke is not coming from the engine. One day the smoke was pouring out of the dash, but when I popped the hood, there was nothing coming from there.

I don't remember anything being spilled on the dash. It used to come from the vents and now it is coming from the top of the dash where the defrosters defrost the windshield. Also when the smoke is coming out, it will fog up the windshield. It is not steam, I can smell it and it smells like something burning, but it is not strong.

When the smoke started the heater in the van started acting up. Now, it will not kick out any warm air unless I am going 55-60 mph. The van has never blew warm engine air out the vents, like my hubbies car, you have to turn on the blower and however you want it to blow out. It used to be really warm, but now it is just cool.

I have told my hubby about it but he just claims that it is just old and doens't seem to take any interest in it. He told me not to drive it, but I need to get places. He will not take it to be looked at. He tells me that I need to get a job and pay for it. He doesn't seem to care that his children need to ride in it to go to the doctors, store, and anywhere else that they need to go.

I am just at a loss on what is wrong with it. Any ideas??

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

GET IT CHECKED OUT BY A MECHANIC ASAP! OR ELSE DON'T DRIVE IT!

If there's smoke coming out of the vents something probably IS burning. It might be electrical.

We had a similar thing happen a few years ago. Some people pulled into the parking lot in their car and shortly after they went into the store the car went up in flames. They said that there had been a little smoke getting into the passenger compartment before it caught fire.

[Rahmota]

Repeat of IPF: Get it checked immediately. A vehicle is not supposed to smoke. If you are seeing smoke coming from somewhere then that is usually a sign of bad things happening.

Now speakign as a person who has worked on cars I'll give you a quickie run through of my thoughts. Please don't use these thigns as a definate troubleshoot but the symptoms you are describing would get any vehicle under my control pulled from the road and the dash torn out to see what is going on. And as I don't know your van and havent seen it I cannot say for sure on anything and just give you generallities. But just becuase a vehicle is old does not mean it should be smoking. ESPECIALLY in the way you are describing!:eek:

You say the van has good fluids and the smoke isnt coming from the engine so I guess its not being drawn into the heater core from outside. That leaves one possible thing:

A short circuit in the heater fan control box or something else underneath the dash. This is a very seriously not good thing!. A short can cause a fire and a vehicle fire is very seriously not good! Those kinds of fires release thick chemical laden smoke into the interior of the vehicle and can sometimes travel rather quick.

Figure some way to get this vehicle off the road ASAP and get it checked out. Not wanting to scare you but hubby needs his butt kicked as this is not something that can be ignored. At the very least have someone you know who is mechanically inclined take a look at it as this needs checked out.

[Crazyredhead]

Thank you, Rahmota and Irving Patrick Freleigh for that insight. I will be taking it to a local mechanic to have him take a look at it. He has don't worked on it before, and he knows my husband, he doens't charge outrageosly. I'm really paranoid around mechanics, I feel that they are only out to rip off women. I know that not all mechanics are this way, but it is always a gut feeling that I have. He only gives a 90 day warranty on his work. He will diagnose the problem, tell you what it is, what you need, and you go out and buy the part and he will put it on for you. He only will charge you a low set price to put it on.

I will probably pop in sometime over the holidays. It really worries me, especially when the kids are in it. I'm hoping it is something simple and not like $5000.00.

[Phoenix79]

If the smoke coming out smells sweet, it is antifreeze. That means your heater core is going out. This would cause your heater to stop working as well.

I had that happen to me on my tempo a few years back. It will just get worse until you have puddles of antifreeze on your floorboards. My guess is it is the heater core, especially if the stuff smells like antifreeze and your heater isn't working. I've been there before!!

Hope that helps!

Phoenix - not a mechanic, but has had more crappy cars than anyone she knows!

[protege]

A short circuit in the heater fan control box or something else underneath the dash. This is a very seriously not good thing!. A short can cause a fire and a vehicle fire is very seriously not good! Those kinds of fires release thick chemical laden smoke into the interior of the vehicle and can sometimes travel rather quick.

That's what I was thinking too. Vehicle fires not only suck, but are dangerous. It sounds like something either under the dash, or in the heater itself has shorted out. If it's something inside the heater, that might be why the smoke is coming through the vents. Either way, I'd get it looked at soon!

After looking at the wiring harness on my MG, I was surprised that it never had any serious electrical problems, other than the odd switch not working. Over the past 37 years or so, many "repairs" had been made the wiring...usually with new wires spliced into the harness, leaving the old (bare) ones in place...right next to the bodywork :eek: What pissed me off, is my father, who up until recently owned the car, couldn't see why that was a problem! Of course once I took it over, the first thing I did was rip that crap out ;)

[Rahmota]

crazyredhead: I am glad you are getting it checked out. That was a very serious problem it sounded like. Unfortunately it might be an expensive issue and it might not so I am hoping you have good luck on that. Wiring issues are usually a PIA.

As for mechanics I know it can be annoying the way some treat people, especially women, but not all of them are out to shaft ya.

Phoenix79: yeah but the OP said acrid smoke so thats a wiring problem. I know what you are talking about though as the heater core spectacularly failed on my friend's 85 chrysler fifth avenue newyorker once and sprayed hot coolant out of the bottom of he dash. Basically making a compleate and total mess of everything.

Protege: I know what you mean. Makes me so happy to work on my step son's ricer as he has the stereo system so wired in crazy it looks like dumping a bowl of spaghetti.

[Crazyredhead]

Actually, something had dawned on me yesterday, it looked as though I was having a religious revelation if you looked at me from the outside. I have commented on the fact that it smells like someone is having pancakes and syrup inside of my van. Phoenix may have a point there. The smell started happening before the smoke and the heating problem. Although it is not strong anymore and is not really a burning smell, I really do think that it has something to do with heater.

[Mr. Rager!]

My bet is your heater core is going out.

One of the best ways to test this theory is to bypass the heater core at the firewall. Run it like that for a few days and see if it clears up. You won't have heat though...

If it clears up, your heater core is shot. The heater core itself isn't that expensive. The labor could easily run you a few hundered dollars... on a $30 part.

[Rahmota]

Ahhh. I see. you said acrid and that meant burning to me. But if you smelled a sweet smell first then there might be a pinhole in the heater core or something. Which if the coolant sprayed out of the core into the underdash area or somehow got into the wiring that could cause the acrid smell by messing up the wiring. Either way a good idea to check it out as its not a good thing to have happen.

[Tanasi]

It kinda sounds like a combination of a few things. A small hole in the heater core that could possibly be spraying on the blower motor. It also sounds like the thermostat might be bad. Thermostats are cheap and easy to replace. If you have to replace the heater core have the mechanic also replace the heater hoses as if they're not already bad they'll be the next thing to go bad and it's easier to replace when you have it apart and heater hose is cheap.
Good Luck

[Crazyredhead]

Yeah, the van is like 13 years old, so she is likely to break a hip. I have also be going through antifreeze alot. I have been having to fill up the antifreeze about once a month lately, where as I have always done it about once every 3.

It is just time for a new van.

[Rahmota]

What Tanasi says sounds reasonable and probable. Sad to say sometiems a vehcile sust gets to the point where you ned to cut loose unless you have the resources to do a compleate rebuild.