Electrical issues with heater?
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Joined: Dec 2008
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From: Sherwood
Electrical issues with heater?
Hi there I was backing my truck up (1973 f250 standard cab) to load it with wood when suddenly black smoke come flowing out of my air ducts, it smelled like burnt leaves, right away I shut off my truck popped the hood and disconnected the battery, but it only got worse the whole cab filled up with smoke. so i then pulled the wiring loom that went to the heater out. and that still did not do anything. so I went to the controls on the dash and turned them off so if there was a fire I'd choke it down and found a fire extinguisher just in case the heater did catch on fire. my question is does this just happen? was this electrical? or does the heater just need to be cleaned out since it did smell like burnt leaves.
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Mountville PA
you may have ansered your question, you can take your flip open vent off thats on the passenger side floor to access the fenderwell air duct to clean it out and you can see the squirel cage for the blower motor, give it a spin to see if it moves freely. Theres really nothing that can get that hot to start a fire, I guess its posible if you get old enough leaves stacked up against the heater core, other than that check your blower motor resistor its mounted in the heater box even with the bottom of the dash I don't think they get that hot but they mounted them in the air stream for some reason.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Northern California
Hi there I was backing my truck up (1973 f250 standard cab) to load it with wood when suddenly black smoke come flowing out of my air ducts, it smelled like burnt leaves, right away I shut off my truck popped the hood and disconnected the battery, but it only got worse the whole cab filled up with smoke. so i then pulled the wiring loom that went to the heater out. and that still did not do anything. so I went to the controls on the dash and turned them off so if there was a fire I'd choke it down and found a fire extinguisher just in case the heater did catch on fire. my question is does this just happen? was this electrical? or does the heater just need to be cleaned out since it did smell like burnt leaves.
The Heater Resistor is exposed in the heater box. If leaves get into the box and touch the resistor, it will cause a heater box fire. This is highly comon on the 1980-1986 trucks if not cleaned out.
Take it apart and inspect it for leaves, rats nests, etc.. etc..
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Northern California
They can get very hot, they are put into the air stream because the heated air from the heater keeps them cool by comparison.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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From: Sherwood
yeah i traced it to that but it did catch on fire and I need to replace the resistor. what happened was during the fall I parked my truck under a tree with small leaves and it got into the ventilation and piled up after a while then it finally touched off. I did clean the heater out and now the whole truck smells like smoke but nothing a few air fresheners can't fix. thanks for all your help you guys.
