There's smoke!

[Liamking01]

Hello Folks,

This is my second post on here and cannot be more thankful for the help that this forum provides.

My 86 K5 has been quite the challenge for me to get reliably running. As soon as I get a hold on what needs to be done next, something else goes astray. The most recent problem came when I was driving home from work and a large amount of thick, white smoke started filling the cabin out of the furthest left dash vent. I am fairly certain this is from a coolant leak in the heater core. When I popped the hood to investigate, it was actually the alternator that was smoking, not towards the firewall and heater core. I have since replaced that alternator as it was not charging after this incident. Could the alternator malfunction cause problems with my heater core? Could it be the other way around where my malfunctioning heater core could kill the alternator? I don't want to ruin this new alternator if that is the case. I have found a small coolant leak where the hose enters the firewall, could this be the cause for the mass amount smoke in the cabin? How can I test the heater safely after I have fixed leaks? How might I go about diagnosing the problem?

Would love all the input I can get as I am just starting out working on cars. Heater cores seem like a royal pain to work on - any tips?

Thanks yall,
Liam

 

[Blue85]

There shouldn't really be any interaction between the alternator and heater core. If the HC is leaking, you will smell coolant in the cab and eventually have a wet floor. If the only leak is where the hose connects to the core, that should be a simple fix and probably doesn't put any coolant in the cab. If the heater core, heater hoses and radiator hoses are all hot, there is no problem with air in the system and coolant is properly circulating.

The alternator smoke was probably drawn through the cowl by the HVAC fan and sent out of the vents. There is no cabin filter on these vehicles.

 

[Barrman]

Don’t forget the fuse panel is basically behind the drivers knee vent. With the ground for just about everything inside the cab bolted to the top of the parking brake bracket. I would suggest looking under there for burnt wiring before you put power to the new alternator. There could be a contributing cause under the dash.

 

[Blue85]

That's a good point, because the HVAC would spread smoke to all of the vents and the center ones should be first.

Same thing if it was the heater core. It's on the PS, so you should see something from the closer vents first.