Smoke from Vents?

[Miss-Vw 2]

Hi all,

Not sure if ive put this in the right section, dont know whether this is an electrical issue or what. Basically, I noticed this morning when I turned my heater up to full - there was a puff of smoke which came out of the heater vents. It stopped after a couple of seconds and there was a strange smell of plastic afterwards. I left it on for a few minutes and there was no more visible smoke, but my windscreen seemed to be getting coated with a smokey film, although I couldnt see anything coming out of the vents.

Does anyone know what this is?

[mk3anni 0]

Heater matrix???

[thegoth 5]

who, what, why? How do!

[cabrioman 6]

could be the heater matrix gone or the plug on the resistor plug and wiring melting ... can u smell coolant ???

[Miss-Vw 2]

Yeah the smell im getting is probably coolant, it smells like stale water with a hint of detergent to be precise!

This morning on the way to work, the temp got to about 100 degress because I was sitting in traffic for a while and I noticed there were whisps of smoke coming up from the steering column! When I got to work there was smoke coming out from the back of the dash aswell.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

smoke or steam?

Have you checked to see if you've lost any coolant in the header tank?

[Miss-Vw 2]

Well i say smoke, it looks more like steam - its quite white and the odour of coolant is only around for a few seconds, there isnt a constant smell in the car. There's alot of condensation in the car aswell which I cant seem to get rid of.

I havnt checked anything yet as it only really started yesterday afternoon and has seemed to have worsened this morning.

[stewvr6 0]

start the car up but leave the heater off, let the engine warm up and then set the controls to hot, full blast on to the windscreen. if the heater matrix has gone then the screen will huff up straight away.

[Miss-Vw 2]

Ok thanks, ill try this today.

[VR6 H19LNE 0]

Miis VW, i have the same problem

[Miss-Vw 2]

Right, i think it's definitley the heater matrix. I drove home from work and let the car warm up - i put the heater on full and steam just poured out from the back of the dash!

The water temp light was flashing aswell and I noticed the temp of the car was increasing quicker than normal, which is obviously down to the coolant leak.

Gonna get the dash out tomorrow if I can and try and sort it with my dad without taking it to my mechanic.

[eltel 0]

Harsh! Not a very nice job... Good luck if you're going ahead with it, if you need any help feel free to ask. Had to do mine when it was freezing as the ice building on the inside of the screen was difficult to scrape off... Lol.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

your talking a full day to do the heater matrix if you've not done it before! just be careful not to damage any thing when you remove it, and make a note of what goes where for when you put it together again!

[Miss-Vw 2]

What exactly needs to come out? Its only really the bottom half of the dash, the centre console and one of the seats right?

[eltel 0]

When I had to do it I had to strip down the dash, passenger airbag and remove the whole thing, no way was it coming out around the front stress bar, so loosened off the big star drives and worked it free. Didn't need to remove a seat, not sure if I even took out the centre console... it was a bloody cold day i remember though. Oh, scuttle panel and wipers had to come off too.

[stewvr6 0]

i had to remove the entire dash as well because there is a frame that goes all the way across and you can't really move the heater matrix box assembly from just the underside of the console. while i was there i also removed 3 different alarm systems that had been fitted by previous owners, fortunately the car still starts.

[eltel 0]

Yeah I removed the remains of an old alarm too! Lol. I was told you could do it without taking the whole dash out, but there was no chance it was coming out with dash there. Think I put a couple of pics up of it stripped down. Dash bolts are inside and also under bonnet on bulkhead.

[legvw 0]

i had to remove the entire dash as well because there is a frame that goes all the way across and you can't really move the heater matrix box assembly from just the underside of the console. while i was there i also removed 3 different alarm systems that had been fitted by previous owners' date=' fortunately the car still starts.

[/quote']

3 different alarms! I bet thats saved you a few kgs!!!

[stewvr6 0]

it caused me enough headaches trying to rewire where they had cut in to the looms. now i know why the original immobilser kept interfering with the starter motor.