Smoking Audi

[Mark J. Besso]

Thanks to all for your replies and suggestions.

I have the shelf and lower dash panel removed now.  Although I still can't 
see any damaged wires, I have narrowed down the area where it's coming from. 
It seems to be from above/behind the relay panel under the dash.  None of 
those relays or control units are warm to the touch.  I can't see the wiring 
behind the panel they mount to, but I suspect that's where the smoke is 
coming from.

I'm trying to minimize the amount of times I turn the key on since 
[obviously] something is continuing to burn each time I do it.

I also did a very rapid test of some equipment.  The power seats both 
function.  Radio is fine.  Sunroof & windows all work fine.  Climate 
controls work in all modes and the fan sounds fine too.

I did not run out to the front and check the fog lights or headlights.  I'm 
not that agile and I feared leaving the key on for too long.  I'll have to 
wait 'til I have someone to help me to verify their function.

Does this additional information help at all?

~Mark


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brett Dikeman"
Subject: Re: Smoking Audi


>
> On Jun 22, 2005, at 5:50 PM, Mark J. Besso wrote:
>
>> As of this morning I'm getting a small waft of white smoke from  under 
>> the left side of the dashboard whenever the key is in the  "run" 
>> position.  It is accompanied by that pungent aroma of  insulation melting 
>> away from a wire somewhere.  Obviously I am not  driving the car now!
>
> Did you check the relays in the side kick panel, driver's side?   There 
> are numerous relays there.
>
> If push comes to shove, you might have to pull ALL the fuses (noting 
> correct values), turn on the ignition, and use a ammeter to jumper  the 
> fuse pins one by one, looking for non-sensical loads.
>
> Also, you can use what we computer people call a "binary search".   You 
> pull half the fuses.  Smoke still there?  Okay, it's not those.   Pull 
> another half.  Etc.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure how wise it  would be to 
> run that long.
>
> Another thought- if something's shorting out, a component is not  going to 
> be getting nearly the power it should be.  With an  extinguisher handy 
> (CO2 comes to mind, won't make a mess, but they're  rare/expensive), you 
> can turn on the car and quickly check as many  accessories as you can 
> think of.
>
> I'd check the stereo and those fog lights first off.  That they've  worked 
> for many thousands of miles is more of a "hmm" than a "nope,  couldn't be 
> them."
>
> Brett
> -- 
> "They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/
>