<<Driving down the freeway my wife made the comment about
something smelling weird, like smoke.  She was sitting in the back
and thought the smell was coming from the rear heating vent.  When
I looked over my shoulder I saw smoke (white) rising from the rear
of the van (inside). We immediately pulled over and got the family
out. >>

We had exactly the same experience! (whether the reason is the
same or not i don't know). Scary to look in the rearview mirror and
see smoke!! I had inadvertently turned on the rear wiper when i had
a bike rack on the back. It got stopped mid stream and before I
realized what had happened the wiper motor had burned up, it was
on a couple of hours before it did though. We did the same thing -
got the family out, ripped the bike rack off, threw all the luggage in
the snow (we were at the top of Vale Pass) and with fire extingisher
in hand ripped the cover off the engine compartment but no smoke
there. I looked at the bottom of the rear hatch lid and i could see
burnt insulation. It still smells like smoke and that happened back in
February. We also have fluid that spilt on the rear heater coils and
that really stinks!! Every time we turn on the rear heater. But I
wouldn't call it a smoky smell. Just a noxious chemical smell.
Needless to say we don't turn it on.

Kimberly Jacobs
87 Wolfsburg Weekender