Mongo

On the way to school today I stopped at the freeway offramp stoplight and saw smoke coming out of my airvents!!! I pulled over immediately, got out of the car and checked under the hood...I didn't see anything burning at all or smoke presence. Kinda odd....The smoke didn't smell like oil or coolant. All instruments inside are functioning properly. BTW: Before stopping at the stoplight I was accelerating in excess of 4000 rpm if that could also mean anything. There were no signs of oil leaking from the bottom of the motor or dripping on the exhaust manifold. Could this be a slightly cooked wire behind the dash or something more serious??? anyone know so hopefully I don't have the sh*t scared outta me again? <img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" />

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R.B.

Are you sure it was smoke.
Was your air conditioner running at the time?
Condensation perhaps

If it was smoke and you did not find any oil or rubber burning in the engine bay, check your fuse panel for any burned out fuses, maybe you have a short somewhere.

-R.B.

Paul C 944

I have also seen "smoke" when the ac is on.Was this the case?

Mongo

There was no smoke coming from the driver's side. It seemed to be coming out of the passenger side. My AC and fresh air blowers were not on. I drove a good 20 miles or so until i came to a stop and noticed it. I'll check the panel when i come home today. Any other suggestions are welcome

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Mongo

bump

IceShark

What did it smell like?

Everything bad I can think of offhand is going to have a distinctive & bad smell. If there was no smell it was probably just condensation clearing out of the HVAC system.

What are you running as a coolant? Suppose you could have sprung a leak in the heater core or hoses to it so watch your temperature.

Mongo

well it didn't smell like burnt sugar (coolant) or oil. The smoke was like a white/gray color and it was just floating around int he passenger area...

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mideastmafia

Andy,

you have an oil leak and it is dripping onto your exhaust manifold when your car is cold, then when you drive it burns off and smokes.

if you watch this for a while, u will see that the smoke only comes after the car has been sitting for a while, and it will come about 10-15 minutes after the car has warmed up. the reason for this is that when the engine heats up, the gaskets tighten up more and dont allow any more oil to come out.

find the leak and get the gasket replaced. my guess is the #3 manifold. thats a common location

SHAUN

TaboII

Just a tought.


Could it have been smoke comming in from the previouse car infront of you waiting for the light????

Have you noticed this at any other time sence?

Micah

If it's an oil leak, and it's putting off enough smoke to come in through your vents (!) then you definitely would've smelled it.

Micah

Mongo

guys I drove the car back home today and to the beach and no smoke came out the vents again. I'm ruling out condensation seeing that it was pretty foggy in my area this morning and last night. I also left the car out the night before in really cold and misty conditions....But all's well....just another trip i guess...

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rcldesign

I have the EXACT same problem. The smoke (in my case at least) is cause by the oil breather tube leaking. It leaks a little oil on to the top of the engine which is hot, and it burns off. Under driving conditions, there is too much air flow to allow the smoke to drift up towards the vents. However, when you come to a stop, it will be able to flow on up in to the passenger compartment. Check the tube and its clamps (all located at the back of the intake manifold, underneeth it.

RGJ

Hi rcldesign,

I have this problem now...what was the cost to get it fixed?

Thx

RJ

V2Rocket

Might be some wires shorting and burning. Happened to me last year...scared the hell out of me.

Ben951S

Wow, almost a 10 year bump...