Air Vent Haze

Perhaps your AC system has a leak.

I can't imagine this is a new thing. I suspect it is only the first time you guys have noticed it.

Air vents should not be blowing out puffs of smoke or fog. If it had a burnt odor, have the vehicle checked by a competent technician ASAP, also see if the low fan speeds work. If it was odorless, open the hood, turn on the AC, and look for white foam in the receiver drier sight glass. The receiver drier is a cylinder mounted in front of the radiator/condenser.

On a humid day, you should see water dripping from under the passenger side of the car. If you do not, then check tot make sure the evaporator drain hose is not clogged or mis-routed under the passenger side of the dashboard.

The fog on the windows is probably what we used to call "vinyl fog." The plastic parts in the car give off some gas when exposed to heat, and although it settles all over, it is more noticeable on the glass. Use of rubber/vinyl protectants like Armor-All inside the car tends to make the coating on the windows worse, and if the window tint is made of plastic, that may also be contributing to the problem.

My Mom's '86 Camry has been doing this for YEARS!!! And the AC is as cold as ever. I think maybe that's the problem. It's an old R-12 system, and it gets c-c-c-o-o-o-l-l-l-d-d-d.....!

The stuff from the AC is probably water vapor (your making clouds). This often happens when its really humid. It doesn't last long. The water vapor in the air gets compressed, and squeezes the water out into what comes out of the vent. Its harmless and will go away.

Have you checked the cabin filter?

Hmmm. The only time I have actually been able to see anything coming out of the vents was on a '69 Rambler when the evaporator was leaking freon.

Thanks for all of the ideas. There was no odor to the fog (definitely not burning) and it only lasted moments. I'm in Arizona and we don't get too much humidity. The window residue might have been the "vinyl" effect, however, we've never seen it before. The AC seems to be working fine (all fan speeds). I'll check the receiver/dryer.

What's this about the cabin filter? I've never changed any cabin filter. What effect does a never-changed filter have on the AC? Thanks. jor

A never-changed cabin filter will have the same effect on the AC that a never-changed filter on a home AC system would have, that is, reduced air flow and efficiency. The interval for replacing the cabin air filter is once a year, or every 15,000 miles. Replacing the cabin air filter is not very difficult. Empty the glove box, squeeze the back corner of the glove box so that the stoppers are pulled in and the glove box and flop all the way forward, look in the opening for the filter, pull it out, and reverse the process.

Vinyl fog used to be a much bigger annoyance, but newer plastics seem to have reduced it quite a bit. Use a good quality window cleaner and newspaper to wipe the windows clean.

Thanks, Ray. I'm on it! jor

Do a pressure check on you cooling system, sound like you are describe a heater core leak.

mike

Seen this in several cars, two of which still have working AC after many years. Im not sure if in the UK we have very humid conditions and the cooling of the air causes condensation when you initially fire up the AC. It clears after a few seconds.

In our old uni lecture theatre in the peak of summer we had a constant fog descending from the ceiling mounted AC units on humid days too.

Vinyl fog is the release of some scary gaseous chemicals you wouldnt want to smell/come into contact with - thank god modern plastics dont do it as much!

You're welcome!

Are you sure the fog in the lecture hall was from the AC and not from the student trying to "relax?"

that too!

IMHO, you got a pretty good chance of curing your problem with the new cabin filter seeing yours has never been changed - I doubt the vinyl fog could be seen except on the glass and doubt if cabin filter would slow it down.

I live in No. California where its hot/dry lot of year and my filters (2 cars) get very dirty in a year and less than 12000 miles.

That is all the 'liberal air.....

Not up here Scott! Might blow in from the Bay area but this county is over 60% RED!

on the cabin filter if my defroster blows moist air in the winter, its time for a new one.