White Smoke from Dash...in my 70 Charger

[DarkAngel0816]

Okay twice in the past two months have I noticed a wisp of white smoke that comes in on the driver's side by the steering wheel.  It only lasts a second and this past Saturday when it did it I pulled right over and with car running I popped the hood...nothing.

No smokey smell or burnt smell either.

Now granted the first time it did it was when it came out of the shop after having brake work and U-joints replaced.

I just got it home from the shop on Wed of this past week after having the oil pan replaced...oil change...tune up...timing and so forth done.  And on Friday smasherofall came over and helped me put a new radiator in it.

So I am not sure if maybe there was some spillage of fluids that caused it OR it looks like the paint job on the engine is pretty new (sometimes you do get a burnt paint smell) and I was not sure if that smoke is caused from the paint being burnt off.

What do you all think?  The only other thing I am thinking is under the dash there might be some wires touching that should not be.

[golden73]

There is no reason why smoke should come out of your dash after a brake job and u joints.

It definately sounds like you have a short under the dash.

[DarkAngel0816]

That is what I thought.  Just seemed weird on how only twice has it done this in two months and both times after coming home from having work done.

Guess I need to undo that dash eh and look for wires that are touching or etc huh?

[golden73]

Have you had any electrical problems?

What accessories did you have on when the smoke started coming out?

After you get the dash off, look for burnt/ discolored wires. I would recommend doing some tests with a multimeter so you can find which wire(s) you are having problems with, like too much resistance, etc.

[DarkAngel0816]

No accessories were on.  As for electrical...none of the gauges are working.  When I bought the car the guy had the dash pulled out, but had it back in when I took the car.  I figured with the fact he had just put in the engine that more in likely never hooked up the wires.

The gauges are my next thing on my to do list.  Planned on looking at it this weekend, but I ended up sick.

[Ghoste]

Do you still have an issue with a hole in the firewall or something like that?  What did you determine was the cause of the excess heat coming into the car?

[DarkAngel0816]

No hole in the firewall (that was my mistake of trying to say the insulation pad they put in there looked shabby)...I know some of the insulation is missing.  But the vents are not closing as the vacuum thing is missing...I had smasherofall at my house this weekend looking at it (and helping me with the radiator).  I can say with the new radiator it does not seem to get as hot anymore.

[moparguy01]

crawl under the dash and look for burnt wiring or melted harness tape. and go from there is my advice. but i wouldnt drive it till i fixed it. otherwise you might have one crispy charger needing restoration.....

[DarkAngel0816]

Yeah I have not even started it since I parked it last weekend...

I have a friend who is a liscensed mechanic specializing in electrical.  Going to get him to look at it.  I did go under the dash and did not see any burnt wiring, but I plan to tear the whole thing out to look.

[69chargerrt]

Just to be safe, I'd also keep the battery disconnected when you're not working on troubleshooting the wiring....

[dd44068]

Be real safe but i fire extinguisher I did and I have no electrical problems "knock on wood".

[DarkAngel0816]

I plan to buy one.  For real.  Sounds like a good plan.  Actually as soon as I finish up some homework I am going outside to tear things apart.

[Ghoste]

No garage (or home) or car should be without one.

[martinihenry]

Is your Ammeter connected? These were kind of notorious for overheating, since they run the full charging system current through this wimpy mechanical gauge (not to mention the often oxidized bulkhead connector).

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

When I examined mine, the original factory wire was brittle and discolored all the way from the bulkhead up to the gauge.

[DarkAngel0816]

We have fire ent. around the house and in the motor home...I want one to be in the car at all times when I drive it. 

And I did look at wires and did not see any problem ones.  I plan to this weekend to look more, but last Sunday I did yank out the dash to look under there.