Rich Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 While driving home the other afternoon, I noticed something a little odd in my Eldorado. I had just come off the parkway (A/C on) and was on a secondary road when I smelled smoke. It was that distinctive electrical fire type smell, like from a burned connection or something. Then I noticed a slight wisp of smoke emanating from the steering column. It seemed to come from somewhere behind the airbag pad, toward the windshield wiper stalk. It was very slight, but unmistakably smoke. I pulled over into a parking lot and ran the DIC for codes. Nothing, not a single code. No messages on the IP anywhere. So I shut down and ran an errand. Came back about five minutes later and drove off. Everything was fine. HVAC and stereo paddles on the steering wheel work fine, as does the horn. Windshield wiper/washer operate fine. Everything seems to operate fine as usual. I spoke to a friend who said he experienced the same thing in his 1993 Eldorado, as well as his mother's 1992 Sedan DeVille. He said he took his cars to the dealer and was told to "keep and eye on it", but he never had another incident. I've been driving my Eldorado since the smoking incident a few days ago with no recurrance. Has anyone else experienced this situation, and if so, what was it? Is this something to be concerned with? Have there been any service bulletins regarding this that anyone is aware of? I've been driving around with a squirt bottle to douse the flames should they appear. Any comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Common GM saginaw steering column issue. Its just some grease burning on the wiper switch contacts. Ignore... Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poobah Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 My '89 Sedan de Ville did that once. It scared the tweet out of me but it never happened again. Happiness is owning a Cadillac with no codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Concours Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Had that happen to me in my aunts Eldo. Never did it again. Scared the holy crap out of me......not the fire hazard, but i kept thinking the airbag was going to blow. Kind of the same feeling you get when someone points a rubberband at you. Jeff Jeff 98 Concours 90 Seville 04 Corvette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Had that happen to me in my aunts Eldo. Never did it again. Scared the holy crap out of me......not the fire hazard, but i kept thinking the airbag was going to blow. Kind of the same feeling you get when someone points a rubberband at you. Jeff, I had same feeling when my steering column started smoking... The funny part is that right before I did not allow one of my passangers to smoke saying to her: "Nobody smokes in my car!" "except your steering wheel" replied she laughing The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Rich, Below is a link that will show you what the turn signal switch looks like. Note the liberal amount of white grease on the right side. The grease extends outward to contact points under the metal switch mechanism. I had the same problem you have, which was due to grease burning off as suggested. As a result, I had to replace the switch assembly because my left turn cornering lamp would not work. If you end up having to replace your switch assembly, I suggest that you buy an ACDelco/GM switch to avoid problems with substandard aftermarket specs (See below link): http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1858&hl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Thanks everyone for your replies. Hopefully, I won't see this again and can go on enjoying my Eldorado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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