Hi, I notice that, although my car's climate control works correctly, when I turn it off, I notice a smell like burning or overheated electronics; once I even saw a wisp of smoke come from the pushbuttons. When the unit is on, I notice the wood fascia in the vicinity of the temp control wheel feels somewhat warm. Any experience/knowledge you can offer?

 

have you change the illumination bulb lately with higher wattage?

gremlins! at first there was chemical smell, now electronic.

the bulb must be too hot and/or melting some plastic?

 

No, no bulbs have been changed. All the buttons seem to illuminate when the headlights are on. If i remember correctly, the illumination goes off in whichever button is pressed, correct? If so, one of the button lights could be bad when it comes on.
Since you mentioned it, I have noticed that the brake light in the center of the rear window shows signs of having overheated (melted plastic), as well as the lights in the door bottoms which are intended to illuminate the ground when you enter/leave the car. Could some sort of overvoltage condition exist? Normally these lights are illuminated only a short time.
Strange. Of course, a lot can happen to a car in 18 years.

 

what i would do is this...
Open the door and feel if it gets hot enough to melt during the time it is normally opened, after that put a brick or piece of lumber on the brake petal, and feel the brake light.

if either of them get hot enough to melt/stink, the issue is current/relivent

also, this may be a dumb question (my fuses may be different than yours)
with my fuses, it looks posibal for the ends to touch after they have melted (the thin strip of metal is under pressure from the ends, and if they melt, it could theoricly touch again)

check your fuses and make sure theyre not blown, or replaced with something (like a .22 bullet) that will not short

Nate

 

sometimes the metal on the fuse is not the same as on the holder which could corrode the other.

randy, you can also check the charging current/voltage of your alternator?

 

I have recently replaced all the fuses (some were pretty ratty-looking) and cleaned the contact surfaces. I noticed that someone (before I owned it) replaced the fuse in the voltage protection relay with a 15amp (supposed to be a 10a I think); I have a new relay and will install with the correct fuse, and see what happens.