Smoking A/C Vents !!!!!!

[Will308]

Does anyone have a explanation for the smoke comming out of the center vents. I don't think it's really smoke, more like condensation. There is no smell to it, just a little sticky.
I was driving yesterday during a heavy rainstorm, with the a/c on. I also had the recirculation button on. Everything ran fine except for when I activated the recirculation button I noticed a significant loss of air velocity.
It still ran cold just not quite as much air flow.
After the storm was over, I opened the windows to enjoy the cooler temps.
I then turned off the a/c and recir. buttons and BAM! There was white smoke/vapor pouring out of the center dash vents.
Anyone have an idea what could cause this? I've had the car since new, Dec.1990, and have never had this happen. It sorta freaked me out for a moment.

Thanks,
Will :(

[Dan in NZ]

I've had this twice... I can only assume it's a bizarre combination of humidity and temperature. If the outside air was very humid, when it was cooled by the a/c the moisture would condense and make water vapour. Also if the air in the car was cooler than outside.

It's like when you breath out on a really cold day, and you can see your breath. Yeah.

[Dick Schneiders]

It was very humid outside and we were driving on the road with the A/C on. I shut off the A/C to see we could go without it as the outside temp was not really that hot. After a few minutes it was rather uncomfortable so I turned the A/C back on and immediately this heavy white "smoke" came pouring out of the center vents. My wife freaked, but it had no smell and went away after a couple of minutes. I decided it had to be a result of the humidity and some combination of events that we had never have happen before.


Does anyone have a explanation for the smoke comming out of the center vents. I don't think it's really smoke, more like condensation. There is no smell to it, just a little sticky.
I was driving yesterday during a heavy rainstorm, with the a/c on. I also had the recirculation button on. Everything ran fine except for when I activated the recirculation button I noticed a significant loss of air velocity.
It still ran cold just not quite as much air flow.
After the storm was over, I opened the windows to enjoy the cooler temps.
I then turned off the a/c and recir. buttons and BAM! There was white smoke/vapor pouring out of the center dash vents.
Anyone have an idea what could cause this? I've had the car since new, Dec.1990, and have never had this happen. It sorta freaked me out for a moment.

Thanks,
Will :(

[ScottyWM]

Same here, maybe 2 times in 6+ years. I stopped worrying about it.

[Kamil]

same thing happened here, scared the crap out of at first, was ready to grab the fire exhitguisher.

[PhilipJCaputo]

Same thing here..... but I've only had the car 1 week.

[winfred]

more common on older cars, my 75 240d would do it almost daily, the best was when it would shoot ice balls at you, sorta like sleet

[Will308]

Does anyone have a explanation for the smoke comming out of the center vents. I don't think it's really smoke, more like condensation. There is no smell to it, just a little sticky.
I was driving yesterday during a heavy rainstorm, with the a/c on. I also had the recirculation button on. Everything ran fine except for when I activated the recirculation button I noticed a significant loss of air velocity.
It still ran cold just not quite as much air flow.
After the storm was over, I opened the windows to enjoy the cooler temps.
I then turned off the a/c and recir. buttons and BAM! There was white smoke/vapor pouring out of the center dash vents.
Anyone have an idea what could cause this? I've had the car since new, Dec.1990, and have never had this happen. It sorta freaked me out for a moment.

Thanks,
Will :(

[Will308]

Thank you all for responding and putting my mind at ease.
It was very humid just prior to my opening the windows. I thought it might have something to do with the recirculation of the inside air in the car.

Pretty interesting you would have ice crystles comming out of you vents.
I can't wait to have the ice maker turn on the next time it happens. I'll try to have a glass with scotch in it, waiting at the vent.

Thanks again!

Will