LOL - sorry, not sure what to call it. "thing" is what I use when I am unsure what something is called.

'91/305. I noticed a strange odor while I was driving the other day. Def not exhaust thru the floorboards.... couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I did notice after two days, that the smell started when I put the key in the on position (engine not running) Yesterday, I noticed a fine white smoke coming into the cabin from above the a/c heater "thing". Air was off. Popped the hood - nothing there. I took apart the front panel, and with the key in the on position, there was the smoke coming from the top of the unit. You cant see it in the pic, but in person, you can clearly see the plastic is burnt on a small area on the top. Unplugged the main connector from the back (middle) and the smoke stopped.


Can I just take the connectors off, and replace it? What is this thing called, anyway? I am pretty sure (tho not positive) the connector I unplugged goes to the compressor. Do I need to be concerned that the compressor is the root cause, even tho it wasn't running when any of this happened?


Thanks in advance.