Smoke Coming from the Dash...

[CanAdrenalin]

So I started my truck this morning as I normally do during the colder months - with my factory Ford remote starter, about 5 minutes prior to entering my truck. When I got in I was instantly bombarded with a burning smell. I thought that maybe it was something outside that was burning, so I proceeded to drive.

The smell progressively got worse, and about 5 minutes in to my drive, I had to pull over because I saw smoke coming from the wind shield defroster vents, and needless to say the smell was terrible.

I pulled over, shut the truck off, popped the hood and gave the entire front of the truck a visual inspection as best I could...

I also have a lockpick system installed behind my factory nav unit (the lockpick has been installed for over a year). Everything seems to be working fine, but I will be ripping my dash apart tonight to see what the hell happened.

Has this happened to anyone??

 

[gmanpaint]

What did the smoke smell like? Plastic? Paper?

 

[k1w1t1m]

Since you say "from the vents" there are only a couple of things it could be. Antifreeze steam from a blown heater core, freon from a blown evaporator, the fan motor, or the fan speed controller. I'd suspect the fan speed controller.

 

[CanAdrenalin]

It was definitely plastic or paper... very strong scent.

 

[gmanpaint]

Well, the reason I asked is if it smells like plastic, that could be electrical wires melting. If it smells like paper/wood, it might just be fall tree debris, collected near the blower fan speed resistor, burning up from contacting the coils, and the smoke being sucked into the cabin from the blower.

 

[CanAdrenalin]

I was thinking the same thing... I'll be removing my nav unit when I get home to see what the hell was going on back there...

 

[gmanpaint]

Or... Remove the blower motor and look inside for debris and evidence of a fire.

 

[CanAdrenalin]

Or... Remove the blower motor and look inside for debris and evidence of a fire.

I think I'll do both, depending on where I find evidence first.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Bobmbx]

Have you noticed a loss of any functionality? It may be the blower motor, but a more likely source would be the blower resistor.