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Posted by: jks1981 Jul 2 2013, 10:30 AM

Hello,
I finally got my 914 on the road today after buying "as is" last summer and working on it all winter in order to safety it this summer.
After about 5 mins of driving today I noticed some smoke coming from the air vents in the car. It's not electrical, it seems to be coming from the air cooling system.
Currently I do not have the ducts hooked up to the vent fan at the front of the car. The two pipes near the engine, which I assume are for the air cooling as well, also have some smoke coming out.
Is this normal? I am planning on blocking the ducts that go to the fan at the front of the car to stop this smoke from entering the passenger area. But I don't want to create new problems by doing so.
Thanks in advance for any information.

Posted by: gunny Jul 2 2013, 10:36 AM

sounds like heat exchangers are bad. exhause is leaking thru to the heat part of the excahngers.

Posted by: lsintampa Jul 2 2013, 10:36 AM

I really don't know, but if I were to guess you don't have all of your heating ducts in a row. so to speak.

If you have "pipes" near the engine, and there is smoke coming out of them, that sounds like you mean they are OPEN pipes?

If so, that's an issue.

Posted by: SLITS Jul 2 2013, 10:38 AM

Leaking oil dripping into the HE's. Will burn off after a while.

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 2 2013, 11:55 AM

No.

Does it smell like burnt oil or exhaust? If so, your heat exchangers might be rusted through, which can be dangerous.
CO doesn't play well with your lungs ...



Post some pics of the underside of your engine so we can see the heat exchangers and assorted hardware.

Posted by: Drums66 Jul 2 2013, 01:49 PM

.......Highly possible!
.....Bag of popcorn,anyone!

Posted by: ConeDodger Jul 2 2013, 02:23 PM

Actually, it plays very well with your lungs having 200 times greater affinity for hemoglobin. It is useless to cells and hard to get rid of (requires hyperbaric chamber). Avoid it...

Posted by: GeorgeRud Jul 2 2013, 04:34 PM

Putting a small carbon monoxide detector from the home store is probably not a bad idea these days as all these heat exchangers are getting old. Even the SSI ones can crack and leak! I have one in each of my cars, held in the small deposit bin in front of the shifter. Just change out the 9 volt battery once a year, and it should provide an early warning system.

If it is just oil dripping onto the heat exchangers, it will eventually clear up as was previously posted.

Posted by: jks1981 Jul 2 2013, 04:43 PM

Thanks for all the quick replies!
Here are a couple pictures. I am actually quite confident you guys hit the problem exactly. So here's my next question, can I simply pull off the flex duct and cap both ends of the "cabin air" side of the heat exchanger? I have no interest in having a heating system in this car, and even less interest in breathing in it's exhaust.

Thanks again.


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Posted by: r_towle Jul 2 2013, 05:07 PM

Pull off the flexible hose and a spray paint can cover fits right on the tube going into the car.
Use a screw clamp to keep it there for good.
Don't cap off anything else.

Rich

Posted by: SLITS Jul 2 2013, 08:26 PM

And I see the oil on your HEs.

Posted by: rhodyguy Jul 3 2013, 07:58 AM

most if not all of the ducting is screwed up. not sealed. prob filthy. clamps missing. wrong flex piping. my guess is the ends of the 'clamshells' (he casings) are rotten. spray can lids for the interior inlet tubes are bush league. go to the hardware store and source some correct sized rubber pipe caps and ss clamps in the plumbing department.

Posted by: Bartlett 914 Jul 3 2013, 09:48 AM

I think Ron may have hit it. The HE's don't look all that bad. The outer tin looks good. In order for exhaust to enter the system, the exhaust pipe needs to be rusted through. Usually the tin rusts out first.

Cap off the tube to the cabin, fix your oil leak and burn off the oil. Re connect the heat tubing after the oil is gone and see from there.

Posted by: r_towle Jul 3 2013, 10:24 AM

Bush league....

I venture to guess that plastic covers will last a ton longer than rubber...

But, I am bush league

I figured this out one year when storing the car for the winter...trying to keep the mice from getting into the longs and into the car from there.

Found a spray can cover...fit like a glove.
I also found out that there are two industry standard spray can covers....one is smaller than the other ....which got my off on a mission to find two that fit...

Rich

rich

Posted by: worn Jul 3 2013, 11:03 AM

I don't personally smoke, but if you do, it sounds like you have found a hands-free system.

Drive with the windows wide open the heat on and see if it goes away after a half hour. Or just let it idle if you are frightened. If it is oil it will burn off. I cannot seem to keep oil out of my HEs, but it burns off rather quickly. Rodent carcases I have less experience with but even they ought to either desiccate or ash over time. I suspect a burning rodent will not leave much CO to poison you.

Posted by: jks1981 Jul 3 2013, 01:07 PM

Thanks for all the replies.
I have decided I will take the advice to block off the two ducts to the car (rubber or plastic...hmmmm), and leave everything else as is.
Hopefully that buys me some driving time this summer before having to deal with the oil leak.....

Posted by: SLITS Jul 3 2013, 01:32 PM

Rats nests / Rats burn real nice. Bought a car and got it fired up. A few minutes into the run, someone yelled "FIRE". The rats had built their summer home in the HEs .... very pleasant smell ... yes, it finally went away.

And I know about smoke thru the vents. Look for an oily film above the defroster vent on the interior of the windshield (yeh, my flapper valves were not sealing correctly) ... I just drive mine and the smoke stops after it burns off.

Oh and Rich being a "bush leaguer" .....