96 Caravan Smoking Still

[Dezmar]

I have a rubber smelling smoke coming from the left (as u look at it) side of the engine. It appears to be the serpintine belt, but I dont know if ti is a pully malfunction or a bad belt. It didnt smoke last night when I didnt put the heater/fan on. Smokes rather quickly, has anyone seen this before? Is the serpintine belt ez to change? the manual makes it look ez but it seems tight on that side of the engine. The belt looks a bit shiney, but I need to take it off to get a good look at it.
Thanks for any help.

[hernandez3674]

Sounds like the serp belt but you probably have a more serious problem . The belt is fairly simple to remove if you have the nack for it but it can be done. As soon as it is removed look at the pulleys for the accessories. Sounds like one of them is seizing up on you. Is the air on when this happens. Could also be the clutch seizing when the air is on. Look for rezidue on the pulleys also.

[Dezmar]

So now, I have'nt been putting the fan or heater on---the heater is on hot but no blowing---no smoke. Will I be able to turn the pulleys to check if ones siezed? Thanks for the reply..Have a good one. oh yeah...what do you mean look at the pulleys for accesories?

[modification_inc]

What Side Of The Serp Belt Is Shiney?groved Or Smooth.

[Dezmar]

Smooth side....still not running the heater fan, and no smoke.
I have only a 12 mile comute compared to 79 miles last year, so I wear my ski gloves, and drive it cold.
Saturday I am going to break it down to see if it is a noticeable problem.
The New England Patriots are on in the afternoon here, so the job may run into Sunday.

[Yatzek]

Hey Dezmar,

I've seen your reply to my post describing exactly the same problem. I'v edecided to reply to you within your post.

I haven't fixed the problem I have with van yet. I let the van stand outside garage for few days, and after that I tried to start it again just to see whether it still smoking. Well, it wasn't, at least for a while. I was able to use it for short distance trips (5 miles) and everything was fine. Yesterday, however, mu wife had to use it, and the smoking problem appeared again.

I haven't tried your idea with heat/fan. However, the other thing I noticed just recently with my van is that I can hear some strange noise whenever I start the engine. This noise is like really strong wind blowing somewhere under the hood. Also, yesterday my wife has experienced some other problem - with transmission. Even though she put reverse gear on, she wasn't able to backout the car. Knowing this fact I'm close to believe that I may have some clutch problem - maybe I need to replace it. The smoke I and you can notice may be also because of clutch, right?

As I said, I didn't go with my van to any service place yet. Just last month I've spent about $1,000 for a new fuel pump, so I don't want to put some money into this car again. Maybe in a couple of months.

Please let me know, whether you also think that it may be clutch problem. In your case, you wrote, that after turning the heat/fan off, the smoke has dissapeared. Maybe there is some problem with some engine running this fan. I'll try to drive my car with that fan off, and let you know whether there is some dofference. Do you also have some "windy" noise once you start your car?

regards,
Jack

[Dezmar]

Jack, no I dont have a windy noise that I recall being noticeable, but I will check today again.
I did an oil change yesterday and thought I heard a
rattle in one of the pulleys on my serp belt..I hope to work on it this weekend. I have an automatic...no clutch.
I will keep you updated.
Dezmar

[Yatzek]

Hey,

My van is also automatic. Well, I'm not a mechanic, so I really don't know how automatic works - mine two previous cars were stick shift.

The reason why I've mentioned clutch is because of the problem with reverse gear my wife had. She had to turn off the engine, then start it again, and after that she was able to use reverse (?) - that's why I thought that this "windy" noise may have something to do with the clutch.

If automatic doesn't have clutch, then for sure has something similar (or I'm completely wrong). Well, I'm going to try your "fix" and put the heat/fan off - if it works, then maybe there is some problem with that fan's motor.

Jack