Smoking ECC

JMartin · Post by **JMartin** » 12 Oct 2006, 07:50

I have a '93 850. The other day I was driving with the ECC set to off (no fan)and REC and A/C off. Nothing should have been "on". Smoke started coming out of the ECC that smelled like burning electrical components. Now the fan won't run and no controls work. I do recall the 2 lights blinking on occasion in the past but the ECC continued to work fine. I haven't pulled the codes yet. Any ideas?

Post by **billofdurham** » 12 Oct 2006, 11:28

When the lights flash they are telling you there is a possible problem so really the codes should have been pulled then.

Anyhow pull the codes now and see what comes up.

Usually when you get 'burning' with everything switched off it is a short circuit somewhere.

Bill.

ElvinInNC · Post by **ElvinInNC** » 13 Oct 2006, 08:51

Sounds familiar. Same thing happened on my 93 recently. I pulled the codes and got 11 fault codes. I need to reset and see if they all come back.

Let us know what you find. I've taken the glove box out to get to the blower to look (had to remove/fix the broken glove box latch anyway). I'll post back if I figure it out.

JMartin · Post by **JMartin** » 14 Oct 2006, 15:55

I pulled the codes and got 14 as well. I could not get the codes to clear using the usual procedure. I pulled the unit out and took the cover off. There was a can capacitor that had burned up and took out several tracks on the PCB. Will start looking for a new/used unit. Either the cap failed or something was drawing too much current (the ventilation fan perhaps..)

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 17 Oct 2006, 19:46

>>Smoke started coming out of the ECC that smelled like burning electrical components.<<

The classic Arkansas smoke theory in action. The Arkansas smoke theory says that everything runs on smoke - once the smoke leaks out it won't run anymore. I see it every week in Nascar and Formula 1, not to mention broadcast equipment.

...Lee

melinaerke · Post by **melinaerke** » 17 Oct 2006, 20:46

I got my '95 850 glt station wagon last week, and no lights on the dashboard, but I keep having this smoke you talk about, specially once I turn the AC off. Anyway, I got it the other day 10 minutes after driving the car, and this time, fan off, AC off.
The smell is more like from something worn out or humidity??? but my dad used to have it in his honda accord also...

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 17 Oct 2006, 21:40

My last post was actually a lame attempt at humor, In your case it is indeed humidity. I noticed it the day that I picked up my car. In my case the blower resistor had blown and all I had was high (4) on the fan but once I shut the air and the blower off it was like a fog machine on the windows and it smelled like a fish bowl. I don't know what GM does differently but that has never been an issue on my fuel efficient Suburbans.

I originally thought that I had a plugged up condensate drain hose but it seems to drip OK on humid days which more or less rules that out.

My fix, at the end of the day, is to pop open a window or the sunroof just before I shut down the AC. Its not elegant but it seems to work.

...Lee

melinaerke · Post by **melinaerke** » 18 Oct 2006, 05:24

Thanks Lee, I'm a begginer with all this, I'm glad it's only humidity, I will try opening the window a little bit before turning it down, thanks a lot.

Melina

JMartin · Post by **JMartin** » 18 Oct 2006, 06:22

I have a replacement unit coming today. Should I be concerned about just plugging it in without knowing what caused the last one to blow or do these things protect themselves?

melinaerke · Post by **melinaerke** » 18 Nov 2006, 15:35

Hi Lee!
Do you remember my smoking ventilations? Well, turned out the radiator had a leak somewhere and so the motor refrigerant evaporated and came into the car through the ventilations. And it turned out to be a pretty expensive part to replace! So, we haven't started quite well with our 850!
The right side of the radio speakers has gone dead also, any ideas?