Anyone ever had any problems w/ anything buring or shorting out in your dash from behind the 2 center vents? i was driving home and i smelt something burning, i was driving the car hard a few minutes before and i thought maybe i just @!#$ up and burnt the clutch alittle so i just kept going. about a minute later i noticed light smoking coming out from the 2 center vents. i pulled over, shut the car off and popped the hood and i didnt see anything coming from there and it didnt smell in the engine bay. so i got back in the car and i popped the plastic off around the radio (i dont have the bolts in it anymore so i can just quickly pop it off w/ the clips). i popped it off and looked behind the vents and i didnt see anything, i could smell something but didnt see anything. so i closed the hood and drove back home (about 2 minute drive down the road) i didnt see anymore smoke or anything and it didnt smell but just in case when i got home i disconnected the battery to be safe. Anyone have any problems w/ anything shorting out back there?

That happened to me once in my 99-Z. It was raining outside, and I spun the tires for about 15 sec. just for @!#$s and giggles, and then when i started to acually accelerate at a normal pace, white smoke came in from the center two vents. I was freaking out out thinking that mybne my car was on fire or somthing. I shut off the car ans started again, but it never happened again after that one time. WEird. I figured that it might have been from my AC since i had it on, but never did find out what it was.






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happened to me once too...but the smoke was coming from behind the steering wheel! and it smelled like something was burning as well. eek! never happened again tho. thank God

Juicez99cav wrote:That happened to me once in my 99-Z. It was raining outside, and I spun the tires for about 15 sec. just for @!#$s and giggles, and then when i started to acually accelerate at a normal pace, white smoke came in from the center two vents. I was freaking out out thinking that mybne my car was on fire or somthing. I shut off the car ans started again, but it never happened again after that one time. WEird. I figured that it might have been from my AC since i had it on, but never did find out what it was.

thats so funny because thats EXACTLY what happend to me, down to the rain and all. lol i got the car just sitting but i think i might have a short somewhere

I am not sure where the heater controls are on the cavalier, but on my van I had this happen along with a strong smell of burning wires. It was months before I figured out it was the heater control switch, by then it had completely melted.

yea i have to take a long into it, i really dont wanna drive it and get stuck anywhere. ive been having a problem a few weeks before hand where it seemed like i wasnt getting enough volts in the car. sometimes when i step on the brakes you could see the cluster light and the light for my tach dim as you pressed the brake and also sometimes when i turn on my high beams, my radio would shut off and come back on. i thought maybe it was just a bad altenator but after all of this i think i might actually have a short somewhere in the dash.

I think this is a mishap with all Cavalier's. I've had the same exact thing happen in my 05. I'll just be going along, and out of no where I'll smell something burning, and then it'll just go away. I once saw a faintly white smoke come from those middle vents too, then it'll just stop.

happened to me too.........and never happened again.....it was hot out with the a/c on....i concluded that it was the temperatur chage in the heater box....almost as if you were to open your freezer door and see the fog roll out....ive seen chryslers do the same thing.....it also had a hint of burning to it...but thats the only i could think of

well whatever it was it scared the crap out of me cuz i instantly thought of the gti video (if you havent seen seatch the other cars forum) and i was just praying the car didnt catch on fire in the dash. its werid i took the bezel off around the radio and peeked in behind the dash yesterday, theres a few misc. wires back there and i checked them all and none of them are burnt, they all still have the rubber coating on them and the electrical tape that wraps them all up is good. maybe i'll just check out the heater core and replace it.

It could be with the Ac or the heater core leaking- Check both

If it is the heater core you would smell the coolant and there would be a permanent fog on your windshield just above the defrost vent.

Since you smelled burning, I would suspect the heater/air conditioner control switch. The connection between two wires gets bad or grounds and the wires get hot and begin to melt the plastic connector around it. It should not take much to pull the heater switch panel out and check it. The damage should be right behind the fan level switch. I think that besides your cigarette lighter the fan/heater controls take the next most voltage on your dashboard - even more than most radios.

When I did mine it looked brutal and I was surprised that the entire dash didn't flame up with the amount of burning that had happened.

alright, thanks all i will definitly take a look into these parts and see what i can come up w/