2005 Grand Caravan fan blowing steam?

[Towncivilian]

My friend's family has an '05 Grand Caravan. The blower motor had to be replaced a few months ago. Anyway, they say it has been blowing some sort of steam or smoke or something at random, and turning it off and on resumes normal operation. I've never been with them when it happened so I can't describe any more than that. A/C was set to max cold I imagine (Florida summer). Circulation off since it's broken (read on for details). Anybody have any clue what this could be? In case it's something with the heater core, I checked the coolant overflow reservoir and the level seems steady at what appeared to be the MIN line. I didn't check underneath the radiator cap.

The door mixer actuator for circulation is nonfunctional. I traced this to a problem in the wiring harness connector where it clips into the actuator itself. It seems that someone (likely whoever replaced the blower motor) was unable to disconnect this harness properly, and it became damaged. The harness receives proper voltage when measured from the backside of the connector, but when probed from the front there is no voltage. The obvious solution is to obtain another harness and solder it in. My friend and I scoured the local junkyard for the wiring harness, but all the Grand Caravans and equivalents were too old and had different connectors. I'm sure we could temporarily rig some quick disconnects to have working circulation, but is my only option to just keep scouring junkyards, or would the dealer sell such a part?

 

[SuperDave456]

If it isn't coolant what is it?

Is it the condensation on the Air Conditioner freezing up?

Also, automotive stores sell single wire attachments, you could always cut off the adapters and just join the wires without soldering.

 

[Brons2]

It will tend to do that in a humid climate if recirculation is broken. Think about it, you are cooling the air down to (and past) it's dewpoint. The steam is condensation.

Fix the recirculation...

 

[Towncivilian]

Ok, sounds good. The soldering isn't the issue for that connector, it's the connector itself on the end of the wire. Soldering in the new connector would take 5 minutes, the issue is tracking one down.

 

[CharBaby]

I'll be of little help to you Towncivilian as this does not sounds like it's my forte'

I want to make sure that I understand correctly! Is the steam/smoke comming from in the cars interior(under the dash or something) or from underneath the hood/engine compartment?

You need to be there when this happens so that you can tell/smell wheather it is steam or smoke. This will help you narrow down the issue.

But, as I mentioned, I'll be of little help with this issue.
I have installed a new radiator cap only, and this got rid of a steamy situation for me(No Pun Intended!)

But, we really don't know if the steam/smoke is comming from under the engine compartment and finding it's way to the interior due to the ventilation damper being stuck in one position.

 

[Towncivilian]

From what I've been told it's coming through the vents. But other than a fouled upstream O2 sensor the van doesn't seem to have any other issues, so I'm rather positive that it's just a side-effect of no circulation and Florida summer.

 

[nepadriver]

That's condensation I bet, not smoke. Interior window air conditioners can do it, I've seen all sorts of older cars do it after extended use on A/C on hot long drives. Usually minor amounts. How much is it? Or is it really smoke?

 

[snapcrackle12]

Condensation