Just got a call from my wife - our 91 940SE Wagon started smoking from the center console (through the e-brake slot) while she was driving.

Smoke stopped when she turned off the car, but we agreed it would be best to disconnect the battery and have it towed back to her parents' house in Yakima, WA.

I'm about to leave Bellingham to troubleshoot, repair and make sure all is safe.

Anyone have ideas on what could have gone wrong in there? It does have heated seats, but they've not worked in the 2 years we've had the car.

It's going to be about 4 hours for me to get there, I'll check the forum then to see if anyone has experienced this before.

Thanks!

Ben Vahl

Could it have actually been coming from the center console behind the dash ashtray? Perhaps the airflow kept it from showing up nearer the dash. If you do not find anything between the seats, pull the ashtray and extract the fuse block. I had smoke in the cabin that I traced to the headlight relay socket. Poor contacts had created heat to the point of melted plastic, hence, the smoke. Let us know what you find.

K
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Bob Kraushaar '94 945T, '91 940T(retired), '88 240, '84 242Ti, '94 F-150, '88 300TE, '89 560 SL, '68 Shelby GT-500 KR

I’ve not heard of an issue there. I had the center console out once on my son’s 94. I don’t think there is a major wire harness under there. To remove, IIRC, two screws behind the shifter, one in the center glove box, two bolts near the front tucked under the carpet on each side and a tricky plastic clip in the back, behind the ash tray. Hope it’s not in the shifter. Post back with the results.
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Tom F. Three 940s. '93 T-Rex now running. Mods, RainX. Lien holder on two more (the kid's). Rust In Pieces, '78 245

Probably wires to ebrake switch dried out and will need to be replaced. Good thinking to disconnect batt and get towed. No one will know what it is until you get the console cover off. Who knows, you might find a dime or quarter in there!

Klaus
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95 854T, 88 780, 88 245