smoke coming in from heater vent!!!

[theflyingbrick]

on my way to getting my shiny new clutch fitted :) i thought id give her a little blast before leaving her for a couple of days,and i was already thinking about what colour i should change all my vacuum pipes to (as the boost drop is disgusting) and low and behold smoke.....yes smoke.....started to pour out of my heater vent,but just the drivers side vent thats on the side of the dashboard (you know the one to "clear" your view to the wing mirror) what the hell is that??? and could it be anyway connected to the lose of boost?? i did mention it to the mechanic and he said "if" he gets a chance he will look into it but chances are ill be sorting this myself,has anyone else had this problem or should i start to worry:help:

[M-R-P]

Bit of a weird question but what did the smoke smell like? Oil, paper or that smell you get when you kill a hammer drill from overuse?

[The Flying Moose]

or that smell you get when you kill a hammer drill from overuse?

Sorry but I burst out laughing when you said that! I know exactly what you mean buts it so specific and ridiculous!

On topic... as mensioned the smell is key to identifiying the issue here, was it only the drivers side? It wont be boost related I dont think, did the car smoke in the engine bay at all?

[theflyingbrick]

Bit of a weird question but what did the smoke smell like? Oil, paper or that smell you get when you kill a hammer drill from overuse?

lmao i done my fair share of drills :)

as regards the smell ermm it wasnt overly strong to be honest if i had to describe it i would say it was a generic mechanical smell!!
when i got to the garage i turned the car off there wasnt any lingering smoke under the hood!! and yes it was just the one side but i did have the window open both sides (i love the sound of my car :P ) so i didnt really notive if it was both sides the rest of the vents are closed off,i will check it again when the car is back see if it comes from the main vents also

but if it helps the smoke was a dark grey and the looks of it was like a lit ciggy!! with the wavey stringing type characteristic i dont know if that helps any? :hidesbehi though now i think about it im leaning towards the dead drill smell

[MIKESC70T5]

I reckon heater matrix

[M-R-P]

Hmmm, could have been some oily water burning - off and being pulled into the heater vent? If nothing stopped working and it doesn't come back again, I wouldn't worry. If you had some sort of electrical fire, by the time you saw smoke, it would have probably been too late.
Keep an eye on it for a bit, then decide weather to dismantle things or not. HTH :)

[woz]

i pooped myself when this hapened to me.

Probably only happens when the engine heats up - right?
Not a strng smell of smoke- right?
Alarming volumes of the stufff like your dash is going appoplectic??

Does it dirty up the glass on the winsdcreen ( I couldn't bring myself to leave it running lomg enouogh to check this as i thought it would go "poof" in a balll of smoke, Haha. But sure enough it steamed up teh screen and that was the answer....

Most likely cause is the heater matrix. Leaks into the casing, gets hot as engine warms up then splashes on the matrix and vaporises. CHeck you coolant level!

Check under your passenger well carpet to see if its damp/wet.

It waont happen when cold as the gunk just slahses around as water until it get wams enough to evaporate.

Matrix is easily available and its fairly straightroward to do if a little fiddly. ALlow a couple pf hours and make sure you get the right size o ridngs for the connection pipes at the bulkhead.

There is a how to on here somewhere.

[merc85]

Heater Matrix buddy,

Check the passenger side foot well by the centre consul. I recokon it's damp.

Check your water level bud.

[theflyingbrick]

yeah i think you lot might be right my mrs has just told me " i told you there was smoke coming out the heaters i saw it the other day when you switched the heaters on" altough ill bet a million quid she never said anything to me then,but in her mind she did!! thanks fellas im off to the wanted section ;)

[MIKESC70T5]

When the matrix was leaking on my old c70, i took the chance and used a bottle of k-seal. Put it in the expansion tank, 3 days later the leak had gone. No more steaming up. £10.99 a bottle and no messing about changing parts.

[merc85]

Yeah, i sell k seal, it is very good. even does Head gasket's

But if i'm keeping the car i think i'd rather replace a faulty unit than make a tempory repair.

But it is worth considering.

[p fandango]

i had this on my old Mini, it turned out it actually was on fire lol (been welding, came back after a tea break to find heavily tinted windows all round lol)

[lego hair]

i had this on my old Mini, it turned out it actually was on fire lol (been welding, came back after a tea break to find heavily tinted windows all round lol)

well it was only a mini lol

[p fandango]

well it was only a mini lol
maybe, but its the only car i've made a profit on well selling. Bought for £50, sold 2years later for £150 (all parts beg, stolen or borrowed lol)

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/880/mini1ul.jpg

[theflyingbrick]

i had this on my old Mini, it turned out it actually was on fire lol (been welding, came back after a tea break to find heavily tinted windows all round lol)

yeah but a mini on fire would be like an oversized lighter!! nothing a thimble full of water couldnt fix lmao ;)