OO! What's That Smell?

[Dean_T]

A few of weeks ago, I would get a wiff of the most acrid, burnt chemical smell while driving Boring, (my '89 Mustang). This had occured a week after I changed the heater core (A bigger PITA than our Four-eyes - Score one for the Four-Eyes) so I thought it was the non-stock putty I used to replace the strip caulk Ford used to seat the heater core.

Problem was, the smell didn't come from the vents, it came from the fan switch! The clincher was when the fan switch stopped working (no "stops" while turning it and no fan).

So, Ford's Aero nose replacement for the Four-eyed Fan switch and HVAC arrangement is a cheesy plastic switch which if used too much builds up enough heat to melt the switch and connector creating the most acrid, burning-eye-watering-gut-puking smell you can imagine. I've encountered 3 weeks old road kill skunk that smelled better - probably did less damage to my lungs too.

Look at the fan switches in the Aero nose Mustangs in the wrecking yards, you'll notice most of them have melted connectors. Something else I've noticed is the '87-'89s HVAC controls are different from the '90-'93s. The knobs are smaller on the latter and the fan switch swapped places with the HVAC setting selector. The fan switch is stil the same crappy design.

I like my Four-Eye's interior more and more.

Dean T

[306gt]

My old 90 L.X. did the same thing a couple of times. I use to go to the junk yard and take the fan switches and connectors from the cars that did not melt. I had to fix mine twice in 9 years. All I can say is that the 87-93 cars had the cheapest interiors of all. The plastic pieces kept breaking all the time. I don't know how many times I had to replace the speaker covers on my doors. My glove box door broke. The two tabs on the dash that hold the speedo cluster assembly broke off, etc. It was the cheapest interior I ever had in a car. I had my 85 G.T. at the time too and it was like night and day between both cars. I still have the 85 today. My old 75 Mercury Bobcat had a better interior then the 87-93 cars.