Ok This is another problem I've been having, but till late has not been so bad that I couldn't bear with it.

Anytime the engine is run hard, or driven for long periods of time, smoke fumes start coming from the selected vents on the dash controls. Usually I just leave them to floor because leaving my vents set on the windshield fogs up the windshield to the point where I cannot see (This happens with the fan off, turning them on forces the sitting smoke out in my face, then still fogs up the windshield.) Just today, I had to change my altenator since that decided to go out on me, and when doing so I bypassed the A/C compressor with a smaller belt to increase power since my A/C does not work anyhow. I thought by doing this I would also stop the smoke from coming through the vents, because I could swear this smell is burning frion, which of course is NOT GOOD. After taking a small trip to pick up my fiance from work tonight, I've come home and now feel extremely nauseus and have a slight headache. This vechicle is currently our only mode of transportation and my 16 month old girl just about always rides in the cab in her carseat with me. If this does this to me I can only imagine the problems this will cause my child. PLEASE HELP.

Thanks in advance and i hope to get a quick response to help fix this problem, as my child's health is at risk here, along with anyone else who rides with me (and myself).

 

Have you checked the oil lately? If it's leaking oil onto the manifolds there's your smoke. In any case, disconnecting the A/C pump doesn't increase power unless you have it on all the time. The pump just freewheels when the A/C is off. If it didn't work I doubt there's anything in your system anyways, so I would find it unlikely that you're smelling burning refrigerant. Anything is possible though. Check one of the valves to see if there's any refrigerant left in the system, and if there is have it evacuated.But really you're the only one who can really help yourself in this situation, get under the hood and start with finding out where the smoke is coming from. You've ruled out exhaust gasses entering the cab?

 

the smell is definitely not oil or exhaust. I just took a drive in it and let it build up while driving to get dinner, then turned the fan on and it literally starting flowing out as if i had just opened the windows of a severly bonged out car. I'm not sure what else this could be other than frion, and there is in fact frion in the system. The only thing i can think is a frion leak, because this symptom started when I recharged the system and the air blew cold for a day, then never blew cold again (possibly over refilled? too much pressure in the lines? i dont know that much about AC systems to tell, just that i know there's frion in the lines now as of the last recharge.) I will set up something tomorrow to safely remove all frion via the recharge port (unless you knowa better place to do this) and then drive on it and report if it still happens.

Any other ideas to this are welcome, and thanks again.

 

could be a bad heater core, happened on my sundance, smoked me out
could also be trans fluid leaking onto exhaust, happened on my '95 Dak

 

Well I found out what the smoke was, it was burning antifreeze leaking into my system somehow. I don't have the time to take the dash apart and find the leak, and I would like to keep my heater working, which still blows really hot. What I did for the time being is a drained the radiator, filled with water, ran the engine, drained again, then filled with water once more. Now the smell is gone, and not so much smoke, but after heavy driving still causes steam to build up on the windshield at night. I run the vent with the blower on high and on desfrost, and that seems to work as a temporary fix, but when my child rides in the truck with me i need heat, which builds the fog up on the windshield at night still.

Any suggestions on how to go about finding the leak (or maybe this is a cracked heater core leaking fluid from the system) please post. This is the first time i've run across this type of problem.