Europolo 0 Posted May 10, 2010 I took my 94 corrado vr out of the shed for the first time this summer. Had been parked for approx 8 months. When it was off the road I done the heater matrix... All went ok... (i thought) Now the problem.. drove it up the road today and I noticed a small bit of smoke leaving the dash vents... Could only really be seen when driving in sun light... Im 99% sure the water temp is ok and its not overheating... Needle rises to 90degrees or so and sits just below on a drive. See Im worried because I had needles off when I made white dial faces when I had the dash out. Oil temp is ok too... The smoke has no real smell... maybe steam??? Would that be normal or anything when you do a heater matrix for the first while? No? What should I check / do now? I dont wanna put it into daily use until Im 100% happy... Any help would really be appreciated folks?! Cheers! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TimDoc 0 Posted May 11, 2010 is your headlight switch a little rickety?? if so, when they are about to break, they short the 12v power that goes through the system down the little earth wire that is there to earth the circuits for the leds in the switch, this then cant take the current and melts, letting of (from other peoples descriptions) differing amounts of smoke sometimes v smelly and acrid. Check the lights are working and pull the switch out and check none of the wires in the loom are burnt through. T Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattnorgrove 0 Posted May 11, 2010 If there's no smell, then it sounds more like steam to me. Hope for your sake it's not a problem with the new matrix else you've got the whole lot to do again. :( Is it coming from a particular vent or all of them? If its all of them it certainly sounds like the matrix, but would your windscreen not have misted up? Good luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Europolo 0 Posted May 11, 2010 No the headlight switch anyway.... Had that problem... got brand new one from VW and only used a few times since. Plus that was way more smoke and instant.. Thanks tho... Its actually coming from all vents. Can be seen more out of the ones on top for the windscreen when you close the ones for your face if you understand me... Ill just be U-ing the pipes from the engine... not doing it again... WTF! it was brand new... no big job to install really but took a week or so in the evenings... Someone gimme good news that its normal for the first few runs on a new matrix! Ahhhh! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daves16v 1 Posted May 11, 2010 This may or not help but I had smoke out of my vents when I got my VR and worse than yours by the sounds of it. Mine turned out to be a dodgy heater motor, changed that and all is fine. The motor may have contracted something if the shed had been damp and not used for 8 months. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Europolo 0 Posted May 11, 2010 motor sounds ok... no difference in motor sound.... Smoke is V little really... can motor be changed with dash in? Its over on the left passenger side, can it be removed without taking out full dash? I cant remember off hand... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darren16v 0 Posted May 11, 2010 make sure no one is watching and lick the vents you will soon know if its steam by the horrible antifreeze taste you wont be able to get rid of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon green 5 Posted May 11, 2010 motor sounds ok... no difference in motor sound.... Smoke is V little really... can motor be changed with dash in? Its over on the left passenger side, can it be removed without taking out full dash? I cant remember off hand... Easy job :D 10-20 minutes,heres a link- http://website.lineone.net/~quigger/heater.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daves16v 1 Posted May 11, 2010 motor sounds ok... no difference in motor sound.... Smoke is V little really... can motor be changed with dash in? Its over on the left passenger side, can it be removed without taking out full dash? I cant remember off hand... My motor wasn't noisy but still smoked. As said above changing the motor is easy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Europolo 0 Posted May 13, 2010 ran car last night for a while sitting in the shed... ran for about twenty mins - Coolant temp ok Just under 90 degrees, oil temp ok... All coolant pipes were buldging and roasting hot... top and bottom of the rad..., ones to and from the matrix... All really swollen and under pressure... More so than normal... fan kicked in ok... ... dont think its the motor for fan. LOL.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MArrado 0 Posted May 13, 2010 if the matrix went is it just the car slowly drying out now that youre running it and its getting warmed through? just am aware of how long it can take sound deadening and the like to fully dry out. hope so Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites