TheSamba.com :: View topic - occasionally, my car smokes from the front vents... advice..

Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:47 am

well, my car smokes from its front vents. the fresh air box is not installed so the smoke comes from wires or something in the trunk compartment. my mechanic found a burned wire in there and replaced it, but it still smokes once in a while. it is a white smoke like a wire burning, another guy i know says i probably have a short, and considering the age of the but, it is a 71 super, he says i should just replace the wiring harness. where is a good place to buy a wire harness? does it come with all the wires and connections? i just want to avoid any engine fires or the like. please help, im getting kinda desperate with this.
:cry:

Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:54 am

Unless the whole harnes has been cut, hacked or otherwise comprimised, you really only need to find the wires that are troublesome. By peeling back the carpet in certain areas and rummaging around in the trunk, you can pretty much see the whole harness. If it were my car, I would repair it instead of replacing the whole harness. Try to see if you can get the problem whittled down to a specific circuit. It could be that your wiper motor is drawing high current or something like that, in which case a whole harness isn't going to fix it.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:56 am

It could also be that your engine is dripping oil occasionally on the heater box and what you're seeing is oil smoke running through the heater channels and up to your defroster vents. Take a look at your engine and if it's a little weepy, clean it up and see if it solves your issue.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:02 am

well, the shop partner of my mechanic, suggested i just replace the wiring. and my mechanic is a family friend and said i shouldnt that it is fine. and the partner wouldnt make any money whatsoever off of me by replacing it. and the fresh air box is not installed either, so i dont understand how it would come through the defrosters. considering they come from the trunk compartment. where the smoke comes from, and it is white and smells like a wire burning, it isnt as strong smelling as oil burning. and the wiring in my car is pretty sad. so if needs be i would be willing to foot the bill. but i just dont want to spend it and have it still happening.

Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:46 am

Check your fuses - if any wire is getting hot enough to smoke, the fuse should have blown already. Make sure you don't have the wrong fuses - or worse, a fuse that's rated higher than the wires. It's a common PO trick, to just keep putting in higher and higher capacity fuses until they don't blow... thus removing the one thing that stands between you and a major electrical fire! Once you have the right fuses, one of them should keep blowing, which will tell you wheere the problem is.
If you want to replace the wiring, there are vendors on this site who can help you with an original harness, or you can buy a generic one for about the same price. Jamesdagg is a great resource, and sells rebuilt harnesses, though I'm not sure if he'll have one for your vehicle - he sold me the one I have in my 74 standard beetle, and I've been delighted with the results.

Stray

Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:01 pm

Your problem sounds similar to an experience I recently had with my 74 Standard Beetle. In my case, one of the instrument panel light sockets shorted out and white smoke come in through the dash vents. The bulb in that socket was just replaced a few days earlier so I'm not sure if I was sold the wrong bulb or if I cracked something putting it in. My fresh air box is also not hooked up. The insulation on the wire going to from the light switch to the instrument panel completely melted off leaving only the bare wire. Try to remember what electrical components were turned on when the smoke appeared and do a little hunting in the trunk. I bet you will find a bare wire somewhere.

--------- Jim

Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:26 pm

BayouBeetle wrote: Your problem sounds similar to an experience I recently had with my 74 Standard Beetle. In my case, one of the instrument panel light sockets shorted out and white smoke come in through the dash vents. The bulb in that socket was just replaced a few days earlier so I'm not sure if I was sold the wrong bulb or if I cracked something putting it in. My fresh air box is also not hooked up. The insulation on the wire going to from the light switch to the instrument panel completely melted off leaving only the bare wire. Try to remember what electrical components were turned on when the smoke appeared and do a little hunting in the trunk. I bet you will find a bare wire somewhere.

--------- Jim

well, it is usually when i am at a light waiting, but sometimes while i am driving. i always have the radio going. i cant really notice it as much at nice. i can smell it once in a while though. it is happening on a pretty consistent basis. it is really really annoying now. ill try to figure out the electrical thing though, try driving around with only a couple things at once. maybe i can figure it out then.

Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:09 pm

You could also have something melty in between the cylinder fins that occasionally gets hot enough to smoke and give you the wonderful burning plastic smell.

Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:29 am

i would find the problem before i replaced the harness cause then you'll just end up messing up the new wires

feel the wires for warm ones. What about your battery? does it have corrosion on it? or your fuse connections? sometimes they will build up corrosion then when they get hot make smoke?

Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:27 pm

I had this problem. No hot melted wires, just smoke, and a funny smell, not electrical, like cardboard or something.....

Drove me nuts for the longest time tracing it with no shorts found anywhere, then I discovered it was the fuses.

I was not using VW fuses, but look-alike fuses purchased at Auto Zone and Pepboys. Seems these non VW fuses they are a smidgeon shorter and cause them to arc but not burn out the fuses and make a lot of smoke, blacken ceramic head of fuses sometimes too but not melting of fuse metal ( and not all the time either, just intermittently).

Since I replaced with fuses made for VW's only, have not had a reoccurance.
( and I got to give credit to Joe of Joe's Offroad in San Jacinto, CA for helping me on this one. I went in for fuses and showed him what kept happening to mine. He compared it to a stock fuse and discovered that though it looked exact, it was not...)

Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:49 am

Cailleac Bhuer wrote: I had this problem. ....
Drove me nuts .....
I was not using VW ....., but look-alike .... purchased at Auto Zone and Pepboys. ...... He compared it to a stock fuse and discovered that though it looked exact, it was not...)

the saga of aftermarket parts continues :roll:

Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:26 am

so i started messing around with it. turns out it only smokes when the heater vents are open. imagine that. so thanks for all your help and advice. i got underneath my car today and on the drivers side the heater channel thing is completly rusted through, also the edges of the floor pan. man is my car a little rust bucket...