a/c and cigarette lighter question

[kyredneck13]

hi,

im new to the forum, as well as vettes. i recently bought an 87 vette coupe, and love it. best car ive ever had. unfortunately, i have a few minor details to work out, but that didnt stop me from buyin it! anyway, when i turn the a/c on, as well as the defrost, heat, etc., there is a light powder substance coming out of the vents. at first i thought it was steam, but its not. then i thought it was dust from storage for so long, but i dont think it is. it doesnt do it as bad as it did when i first got it, about 3 weeks ago. also, my cigarette lighter doesnt work(not for smoking in the vette, but a radar) i pulled the fuse, and it still does not work. any ideas for either problem would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Jeb]

At first I thought of airbag powder but then I remembered the 87's don't have the bags. Can't help on that.

Have you checked the lighter outlet to see if you have 12VDC there? On mine, the little tabs inside the socket weren't making contact with the lighter and thus the lighter didn't work. After carefully bending those tabs back out where they will make contact with the plug, it works fine. See if you have 12VDC to the center electrode in the socket by placing the probe there and grounding the other probe against the wall of the socket. If you get 12V, the problem might be in the way those tabs are bent flush with the side of the socket.

If that fails, did you check for 12VDC to the fuse? If you don't have it there, you've got some digging to do.

 

[Larry's Yellow Rdstr]

Welcome to CAC and congrats on the new car. I have an 87 vert that I'm doing cosmetic upgrades to make it even nicer. Hope you have many happy miles of Corvette driving ahead of you !

 

[kyredneck13]

please help!!!!

ok, i got the cigarette lighter problem solved...turns out that it was a short in the wiring. this is the part that i am in serious trouble with...the powder substance from the defrost, air, heat, etc., is still occurring, and is sticking to the windsheild. i think that this is why my windsheild is getting fogged up inside. i have put the rainx anti fog on it, and after a few days it comes back. it is often too bad to drive. any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jeb]

How about putting a shop vac to the outlets and see how that works. I cannot imagine anything normal which would do that and possibly you can get it out if you vac it real well.

Can you give us some history of the car? Was it sitting somewhere where pollen or something could have gotten into the ducts? Is the powder like talc or finer? Did the previous owner have a problem with it?

 

[kyredneck13]

i didnt think about the shop vac, that might do the trick. as far as the history goes, i assume it was kept in the garage. i would not rule out dust or pollen, except there is too much to be blowing out to be dust just sitting down there. the powder that its blowing is like a white dust, really small particles, smaller than sand. (dont know if that helps?) i havent talked to the previous owner about it, but when i was test driving it, the air was on and it wasnt doing it. i bought it the day after that and noticed it, so i assume that she has noticed the same.

thanks for your help.

 

[kyredneck13]

ok, i did a little research, and my situation is described on several other vehicles, where it is the heater core going bad. has anybody had problems with heater cores or know anything about them, for example, the cost?
thanks to everyone for your help

 

[milehigreg]

Heater cores are bad mojo!

Don't understand exactly how you would get white powder from a heater core going bad. In my experience you get steam on the inside of the windshield and water on the floorbaords. There has been a magaizine article posted here which descirbes the replacement and then suggests leaving it to a pro. Do a search and it should pop up.

 

[vetteboy86]

Yes, usually a heater core will steam up the windshield, unless there is all sorts of corriosion or something in there that is coming off from a previous leak. All I can tell you is that I have heard it is a real bear. Corvette fever recently did an article on replacing heater cores. You might search there, otherwise search here. It can be done, with a little patience what cant right??

 

[G Winter]

Are you close to the ocean? could be that the salt air has corroded the heater core. Aluminum corrodes white, don't it ?

Glenn

 

[soggytaco]

I had a 95 acura integra the a/c was so cold it would blow out condensation like on a cold day when you can see your breath. are you sure its a powder?

 

[kyredneck13]

ive pretty much decided just to save myself the hassle of trying to do it myself, and let a pro do it. i live 5 minutes away from the ocean, and the car has been here a while, dont know if that helps. the search i did involved the heater core leaking antifreeze, and blowing coolant smoke(exactly whats happening to mine), burning off the engine i guess. the windshield does get fogged, so bad ive had to refrain from driving at night until i can get in the shop.

thanks to everyone for all of your help!!