1988 Chevrolet - Up in Smoke!

[Three504spd]

My dad called to tell me his '88 Chevy got smoked out last night. Melted dash, cracked windshield.....
He mentioned the heater control caused it, has any heard of this being a thing? I have (3) other GMT 400' and hate to see that happen on any of the others. Suggestions, opinions. Please and Thanks

 

[Justin S]

I know its common for the 95-99's to have the harness melt behind the HVAC controls. Usually don't result in that much damage, but they get hot enough to melt the pigtail.

 

[Three504spd]

Is there a fix for this problem? Does anybody know if was a resistor or particular positioning of the harness that it should be moved?

 

[98chevy2500SS]

You know, my old '98 dash had that happen to me too, but the dash never melted. The heat aluminum shield (something like that) melted on the top of the dash on the inside. Made me wonder what the hell had happened. Glad I removed that dash!

 

[tinfoil_hat]

I would swear I have read about a factory GM harness upgrade to address this issue but I can't find it anywhere.

 

[Three504spd]

Found a 91 Chevy that might be good donor for entire interior. '91 has the 4L80E transmission, will the interior wiring be different?

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Shouldn't be any different, and plus the '91's still had that weird cluster in it as the '88's did, as '92 would've been the first year for the tack and speedo. The only thing would probably be if you swapped the column.

 

[rockusaf]

I had an issue with my HVAC not working on my 1991 and thought it was just the controls that took a crap so I picked up a new one but same problems. When I started troubleshooting I found a connector that was melted under the dash. I cut the melted wires out and put a new/different connector I had and never had an issue with it for years before I swapped the dash for a 1998.

Rock

 

[Three504spd]

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[tinfoil_hat]

That's a darn shame. Was this with the vehicle on or off?