tuvok4711 Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Anybody an idea why there is a little bit of whitish smoke coming out of the top of that heat exchanger thing (in the engine room at the back of the dashboard) of my 1999 S3? Engine running idle for about 10 minutes; water temp was just about high enough for the fan to turn on. So nothing out of the ordinary in terms of hard driving or anything; rather the opposite. Or was it maybe just some dead bug which may have been caught there and the decided to finally melt its way into paradise...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 28, 2022 Member Share Posted February 28, 2022 Is it still smoking?JonathanPS: Prepare yourself for "Who has a heater?". : - ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndrewE Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Was it smoke or was it steam? Was there any smell of burning? Steam would imply a water leak from the heater pipes or matrix, smoke could possibly be a wiring fault of fan motor overheating. The heater would not get hot enough for anything external (bugs or leaves) to burn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR400D Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I would guess Andrew has it right. A tiny water leak somewhere being vaporised on the matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuvok4711 Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 Jonathan: No, not smoking anymore because I turned it off and have not tried again since ;-)Andrew, Scott: water leak seems plausible; thanks for the hint! I will try again and will be sensible in terms of smell, though. I'd rather take steam without smell than smoke with smell... One should be able to disassemble the heater to a have a look inside, right? Anything that comes to your mind in terms of things to be careful about if I try to disassemble? Or is it basically just some screws and stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted March 1, 2022 Member Share Posted March 1, 2022 There are at least two types of heater. One has plastic rivets: https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/heater-matrix-repair-replacement...Apart from the heater matrix there are several connections that have been repeatedly reported as leaking. Check the surface of spigots for smoothness, and you might need new clips and rings....JonathanPS: It's always worth checking that the valve is fully opened and closed by the cable action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuvok4711 Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 Thanks for the link! I did think about the valve as well and open/closed it a couple of times (without change in terms of the smoke/steam. Will continue to observe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMorris Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 If it is a long time since the car has been run and/or the heater matrix has got wet due to ingress of rain (etc) then when the engine (water) gets warm it will cause the matrix to dry off - a possible reason for the fumes you are seeing.I have seen similar coming from the main radiator on my car before now.As others have stated above - there are other potential causes.D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now