Dear Bryan,

May this find you well. The "smoke" may be formed from coolant, leaking from the heater core.

If you have a blown headgasket, coolant mixing with the oil, will form a brownish foam, visible at the end of the dipstick, or inside the dome (inside the area below the oil filler cap.

If you tackle the failed ventilator actuator, you probably want to inspect the heater core and its hoses closely.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

spook

Sounds like vacuum leaks in the cooling system vent operating cylinders.
A few things that can be wrong: bad check valve in the hose from intake manifold to the vacuum reservoir in the dashboard.
A torn diaphragm in one of the door actuators in the dashboard. I've seen this personally. If this is the case, there could be so much of a leak that even with a good check valve, the reservoir gets depleted under acceleration.

Note that acceleration is a low-vacuum condition, and idle or deceleration is a high-vacuum condition. The reservoir gets charged up under high-vac and then the check valve is supposed to hold it for those times when you're accelerating. If the devices consume too much vacuum due to leaks, the reservoir is empty before you're done accelerating.

Also, this is likely the source of the noise. AS the reservoir empties, there's a hiss of air or a sighing sound. Vacuum leaks often whistle. Given the likely spot for the leaks, basically center bottom of the dash, next to your feet, it could sound "far away". I'd figure it's all related. With a flashlight you may be able to even see a tear in a rubber diaphragm up under there- I've seen it right where a shaft or rod exits the rubber.

Good luck.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K