Sorry about the redundancy but I have another post entitled "HEATER CORE CAUGHT FIRE" ,But since I did get a few replies, I wanted to be clear on what exactly caught fire, and it was not the heater core,but someone mentioned it was the blower Resistor, and some leaves inside the unit.

1986 Ranger / 4-banger / 2.3 / 5-speed / 144,000 miles / CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS

I was driving around, I had the heater on I smelled smoke,turned heater off and smoke started coming out of the air vents...BIG TIME!

I pulled over as soon as I was able to, turned the key off,opened my hood and saw a little fire in my heater core where the Fusible Link plugs into it on the left side looking into the engine. I pulled out the fusible connector assembly (it was all meted anyway) Threw water on it to put out the fire inside the Core.

I have an after marker ARA Air conditioner which hasn't worked for years, (no freon. and no belt) but I will miss my heat.

Do I need a heater/defrost to pass smog in California ?

Silly question I know,but I do believe the Smog tech used the heat to test something. Smog failed a couple weeks ago due to high Carbon amounts.

I had visions of fire Engines coming to my rescue,but no heat and smells very bad. Thanks!

I've said before I'm not mechanically inclined to know all the parts of my truck. Yes sir, upon further inspection, there were many leaves inside this compartment that caught fire..I have pictures,but no way to post.
Right side of the heater Blower case

First I thought it was the heater Core, Nope, I see the ROUND Blower fan on the left,then the two heater hoses going towards the dash on top,then this ARA funny looking enclosure to the right of the heater Blower case.

The blower motor resistor and plug were pretty damaged,so I don't think I could reuse them,and feeling around the inside,it feels pretty burned up.
Even If I put a piece of sheet metal over the hole of this box, I wouldn't feel safe from another fire in the future.
Is there way way to post a small 72 dpi .jpg to show on this site?

I don't even know if I could find another whole unit either from Ford,or a junk yard,or how much this would be? Has anyone had this problem and how did you fix it? Thanks.

 

I haven't had a smog test but it should be a non-issue whether you have heat/ac for it since they are for climate control and have nothing to do with emissions.

I wouldn't be too worried. Pull the heater core and clean out all the old leaves and carbon. Clean the core real well unless it shows signs of heat stress, replace it if it does. Check your wiring and replace anything burnt up. If you have a hole in the box you can use whatever you can put your hands on to seal it up. I had a Ranger that a pack rat almost ruined. He made nest in the heater (one of six) and chewed a whole through the plastic. Killed the rat, cleaned out all his nuts and leaves. Used a tire inner tube, eboxy and aluminum foil to fix the hole.

Take your time and you should be able to have heat again.

I haven't posted pictures in awhile but if you upload them to your gallery first then you should be able to post them.

 

Ultramagdan,
Thanks for the info!
You said..." If you have a hole in the box you can use whatever you can put your hands on to seal it up. " and "Take your time and you should be able to have heat again." Silly question Dan, If I seal it up,and there is no place for the heater Resistor coil pack to plug into again, how could I have heat? I thought the heater Core was on the inside of the car under the heater on the hump. I did see the burnt inside of the engine compartment heater-Blower to the right of the Blower Fan casing that with the leaves..probably 20 years of them..no one told me I had to remove the resistor coil plug and remove leaves) l noticed it looked like a radiator. something was burning other than the leaves, so maybe I damaged something else. So I have to get to the heater Core and remove the leaves from the inside of the truck? I'll try to post some pictures. Thanks again.

 

Fix the burnt up part.
Put a hole back in that will allow the mounting of the blower resistor.
It just needs to be mounted in the air stream.
Ford (or salvage yard) would sell a new blower resistor plug.

A new case IS available from www.bought4less.com
their number is on their website.
They can get a NEW ARA evaporator case.

The leaves are between your blower motor and the Evaporator core.
The heater core is actually inside the cab.

 

HHOTT71,
Thanks.
So it's no real big deal to cover the hole with something (hard Plastic..some said metal,or tire tubing) and reattached the resisitor coil back into where it used to be somehow,without worrying about another fire as long as clean ALL the leaves out that compartment?

Is this a really big deal?

I'll check to see how much another evaporator case is,but maybe more than I would like to spend,and seems like alot of work.

If so,Would I have to evac the AC/dissconnect the heater hoses? Or is this a quick replacement of the case..Blower heater,evap/resistor double case..I think it's all one unit,just a lot of screws to the engine wall.

I really think the resister is still ok and may still work.I was going to plug it in and test it to see if it gets hot,if that's a good idea. I don't feel very comfortable with electrical,but if there a way to fix this,I will. Thanks.

Don't you love people that don't know jack about their trucks? Thanks for your time you'all

 

I certainly know you know the visuals of what I'm talking about,but I created a gallery of a few pics, It's actually under "Jim's unlucky past",and wanted to know how I can post them in this post to show you. Any idea? A Picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks! Jim