1994 Chev Lumina Sedan, Smoke at Steering Column

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Brad - 15 Jun 2006 13:42 GMT

Hi,

My Mom's 1994 Chev. Lumina Sedan

Two different times in the past year, a little smoke came out
of the top of the steering column, not far down from the steering
wheel, in the area where the "hub" (section where the automatic
shift comes out, etc).

I couldn't find a place (screw holes) to remove the cover so I can look
inside. Any ideas what might cause the smoke or how to take the
cover off?

Thanks in advance, Brad

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80 Knight - 15 Jun 2006 15:25 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance, Brad

I had that problem in both of my Grand Prix's (a 1992 and a 1991). Turned
out to be the switch inside the steering column that moves back and forth
when you press the turn signal stick up or down. If memory serves, I was
told there was a recall on the switch years ago. To replace it, you have to
take the steering wheel off, and, if memory serves again, it's right there.
To be honest, I never replaced mine in either car. The '92 got rear-ended
before I did it, and the '91 got well over 300,000KM's on it before it went
to the scrap yard. Signal's still worked fine the day we drove it out there.

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Edwin Pawlowski - 16 Jun 2006 01:14 GMT

"80 Knight" <80_knightNOSPAM@rogers.com> wrote in message

> I had that problem in both of my Grand Prix's (a 1992 and a 1991). Turned
> out to be the switch inside the steering column that moves back and forth
> when you press the turn signal stick up or down.

Happened on my 91 Regal. Twice I saw smoke but nothing serious ever
happened and I've since put on many more miles. For a while, the left turn
signal did not stay on once you let go of the lever. Suddenly, it worked
again.

Having seen a car fire, when I saw the smoke I was ready to stop and bail.
They go up fast.

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80 Knight - 16 Jun 2006 03:09 GMT

> "80 Knight" <80_knightNOSPAM@rogers.com> wrote in message
>> I had that problem in both of my Grand Prix's (a 1992 and a 1991). Turned
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Having seen a car fire, when I saw the smoke I was ready to stop and bail.
> They go up fast.

Same here the first time I saw it. I took it to my GM mechanic right away,
he ripped the steering wheel off, showed me what was wrong with it, and told
me not to worry about it as it was (at the time anyways) a $300 Canadian
part.

I did have the coil pack on the '91 Grand Prix catch on fire one day though.
I couldn't figure out why the car was running bad, as it had been doing it
for days. I was leaving my place one afternoon, stopped to say hi to a
friend, and the car quit. Someone walked up and said "hey, do you know your
car's on fire?" I said, "sure didn't", got out, looked, and sure enough, the
coil pack was. Now, this was years ago before I knew anything about cars, so
we tried to get the fire out ourselves, before the F.D. stopped by and
unplugged the battery cable. Good thing we knew them, so we all had a good
laugh, and I realized what was wrong with the car. Replaced the coil pack
and she ran mint again.

She even ran mint all the way to the scrap yard too. Too bad the body was
rusted out, or I would still have it.

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