I have a 91 camaro rs with a 305 for a weekend car. Haven't cranked it in a couple months. Started it today and it ran and drove ok. Brought it home and when I opened the hood to investigate a strange smell I saw smoke coming out of the air cleaner from the TBI. The car has about 190,000 miles on it. I have never encountered a problem like this, hope somebody can shed some light on the situation.

 

 

No, I checked the wiring and connectors. It all seems to be ok.

 

Is it happening every time you drive it or only when you shut off or something else? Maybe try and remove the air cleaner cover to see if you can tell where it originates.

 

This is the first time it has happened. Busy weekend ahead but when I have time to further investigate I'll post again. It's a issue that I've never heard about and can't seem to find any info online.

 

Two likely causes:
1. Electrical smoke from shorted wire or overheated electrical components

2. Excessive blow-by or a defective PCV system, blow-by is coming out the crankcase and into the air cleaner. It's supposed to do that under heavy throttle. Shouldn't do it at part-throttle or idle.

 

After checking the vacuum on the PCV system and other vacuum lines I decided to pull the air cleaner assembly. I found remnants of a palmetto bug that must have climbed into the air cleaner while the car was being stored and I believe that it was the likely culprit. Had the camaro running for a good while today and didn't see any smoke coming from the TBI. Thanks for your replies.

 

 

I live in North Florida and they are everywhere. They really suck. The smell from the one that got barbecued in my air cleaner was quite atrocious.