Smoke in the cockpit

[Baroque Brass]

Not really smoke in the cockpit but it did make me think about my pilot training and what to do about smoke in the cockpit. I think I’d rather deal with loss of engine power than fire in the cockpit.

Anyway, wha had happened wuz, I was in my 93 Silverado stopped at a red light when I noticed the distinct aroma of burning electrical. There was smoke coming from under the dash and I was concerned about the the possibility of fire. I was about thirty minutes from home. One of the blade fuses actually melted and fell out of the fuse block and it seemed the smoke had stopped. I was about ten minutes from home when I smelled smoke again, more from under the dash and now from the steering column. I got home, blinkers wouldn’t work, interior lights didn’t work, and the tail lights were staying on. I disconnected the battery, I guess I have some trouble shooting to do. Thirty year old truck giving problems, they just don’t make em like they used to.

 

[basstrkr]

as my neighbor mechanic used to say, they somin wrong with it!

 

[basshappy]

@Baroque Brass wow, this is why I have two extinguishers up front, 1 for driver and 1 for passenger to grab quickly and without struggle.

Update with cause for your meltdown. Voltage regulator failure and overcharging maybe?

 

[DAVE]

That is usually caused from high resistance at the fuse itself (loose or corrosion connection which melts the plastic around the fuse terminal)), if you had to many amps going through it would have blown fuse.

 

[Baroque Brass]

Started investigating today and there are lots of wires with melted insulation. What I don’t understand is how the over current happened, there should be some kind of fusible link between source and load, no matter where the short occurred. Probably going to end up replacing a harness or two. It’ll probably be a pain but I love that old truck and I got to get him healed back up.

 

[Baroque Brass]

The culprit turned out to be the trailer light connector. Some of the insulation had deteriorated and caused a short. As a result, I had to replace the brake light switch and connector and replace a lot of melted wires. The fuse connector on the fuse block also melted so I had to cut those wires off and install an inline fuse. I also pulled the steering wheel since the brake lights go through the turn signal switch. I still don’t know why the fuse didn’t blow, it was the rated amperage for the brake light circuit. So guys, check that trailer connector, it might save you some headache.

 

[Redbow]

Glad you could get the old Chevy going again. I have an '86 Silverado that I will never part with until death or someone runs into me and completely total's it. I sure ain't about to sell my old square body.

 

[Baroque Brass]

Glad you could get the old Chevy going again. I have an '86 Silverado that I will never part with until death or someone runs into me and completely total's it. I sure ain't about to sell my old square body.

Agreed. I bought that truck in 1994 from a friend, it had 11,000 miles on it. It’s part of the family, trips when my daughter was young to get Christmas trees to hitching up a trailer and moving her to college. Everything on it works, I hope one day to get it painted and get it really looking good again.