Sh*t! That Was Scary!!!

[neil240970]

Evening all,

none of you will be surprised that the only car (out of 3) in our household is working through this harsh weather : The S3.

Started it up this morning, as usual, first time. Was surprised at how dry the car was as it's been outside for ages and been used everyday. Even the rear screen was dry for once.

Anyway, a couple of minutes into the journey, a funny smell in the cabin shortly followed by some really attractive grey smoke from the glovebox!! Quickly, the car was like a smokebox, so I panicked a bit (well....a lot) and took my seatbelt off ready to bail out. Funny thing is, everything was working fine and the smoke quickly dissipated within a couple of minutes. Anyone else had this before? I'm guessing it's just moisture meeting the fusebox and creating a bit of a fuss. Anyway, the car has been perfect since and even on the journey back from work with lights, heater and wipers on full, it didn't recur.


Thanks in advence for any suggestions.

[blues3]

What did it smell of?

Perhaps a bit of oil on the manifold? an electrical fault? or dead cat in the fan belt?

[neil240970]

I'm prety sure it was purely from the glovebox/fusebox - electrical-type smell.

[Barkychoc]

Sounds like you may have had a lucky escape - I bet there's a burnt wire in there somewhere.

[blues3]

Not the dreaded yellow plug then?

[neil240970]

Barkychoc said:

Sounds like you may have had a lucky escape - I bet there's a burnt wire in there somewhere.

Yeah,that's what I'm thinking. But everything's working fine still. Only thing I've haven't tested is the foglights.

[v8s4me]

Could be anything, if you look behind/underneath the dash it you'll see somehting like this.



If you don't want to take the dash off (who does?!) you'll be able to get at some of this mess by removing the glove box and pulling off the fabric trim which covers the hole above the glove box.

[johnnywgk]

ADVICE FOR ALL


Make sure you have a fire extinguisher, these cars are very flamable, and made
worsera than a worse thing, from worseville.

[phillpot]

johnnywgk said:

Make sure you have a fire extinguisher,

Un-doubtably good advice but also a "can of worms" , what type, what size, where do you fit it etc etc .........


I'd also suggest a battery isolator switch or "quick connect" of some kind, not easy trying to pull a battery cable off as things quietly smoke and smoulder !

[johnnywgk]

I think Norman (Geraldtvr) done a thread about this, with pictures.

Most motor factors sell ideal extinguishers for cars.

[Gerald-TVR]

A lifetime ago

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...