Smoke From Cc Vents

[dipsomaniac]

Occassionally white smoke comes out of the dash vents. This happens when the CC is on or off. It doesn't happen all the time but can startle passengers. Has anyone had the same problem or can anyone advise?

[Guest fredt]

Are you sure its smoke? it could be the coating on the heater matrix or evaporator as they corrode being blown through the vents as it flakes off!

 

or are the kids having a joke and pouring talcum powder down the vents :lol:

 

or......

at any time have you suffured from the wet footwell syndrone? (blocked scuttle drains) if it happens whens the fan starts up it could be the fan getting a bit warm due to it getting wet and its bearing seizing up?

[ridway]

Under certain conditions it is possible that you will get the occassional blast of mist from the vents as the CC cycles - usually in hot damp conditions. Are you sure the climate control is off or you have the fan speed set very low? It is a similar effect as to your warm breath meeting cold air in winter, only in reverse. This is not an indication of a fault (so long as it is mist and not smoke) but more a sign of a good working system. So you're entitled to feel smug that you are one of the privileged to have a working system considering the Galaxy's reputation :lol:

 

Rich

[dipsomaniac]

Thank you for the replies. I have been lucky so far as I haven't experienced the flooded footwell or the kids putting talc in the vents.

 

If it is a mist, it is a thick mist but not enough so that I can't see where I'm going. It also has a dry ice type smell to it. It happened today after the CC was set at 18 degrees (outside temp 20 degrees) and I had been driving for 100 miles. I switched the system off and the mist continued to leak from the vents for around 2 minutes.

 

Rich, can you confirm whether you think I am still entitled to feel smug?

[ridway]

I think so, if the air is icy cold. I've experienced your symptoms myself last year in Scotland during the record hot spell. We'd been driving for hours in the hot weather and noticed the ocassional fountain of mist for a few seconds coming from the vents either side of the clock. You're right , it is quite alarming the first time you see it. I also recall seeing it happen in an old Peugeot 405 I once had.

 

Rich

[Guest fredt]

I think so, if the air is icy cold. I've experienced your symptoms myself last year in Scotland during the record hot spell. We'd been driving for hours in the hot weather and noticed the ocassional fountain of mist for a few seconds coming from the vents either side of the clock. You're right , it is quite alarming the first time you see it. I also recall seeing it happen in an old Peugeot 405 I once had.

 

Rich

yeah right! like that ever happened :(

 

Scotland.....hot weather :( the sign posts saying welcome to Scotland have a rainbow on them! it rains that much up there, that the men have to wear skirts as their trouser legs get wet from all the water as they wade through it :lol:

[iainkirk]

I spent a few days either side of bank holiday (English) weekend camping in Scotland...I now have webbed feet.

 

...oh and my digital camera contained 17 pictures of rainbows as taken by my kids....quite some feat, as of course the sun ALSO has to be out at the same time in order to get one!!!!!!

[Guest fredt]

we had our honeymoon in Scotland, it peed down all the time :D on one of the days out we passed a bronze relief map of the area, water proofs on we got out the car to see what we were missing :lol: according to the map Ben Nevis was just the other side of the road! not that we could see it through the rain and the mist :(

we did how ever visit a few distillery's of a certain liquid local to area :D on these occasions the wife drove back to the digs :( the sample glasses at the end of the tours were set up for how many tickets were sold for that tour and did not account for the children in the parties :D it seemed a waste to drink it and upset our hosts :D

[Guest Paul Collins]

Honeymoon? days out? Never went out on mine :D

 

But the lure of a good single malt would be the one thing that might change my mind

 

Paul

[Guest Andyjflet]

ahhh, bonnie Scotland, as I work in Scotland my Galaxy will be making the fortnightly trip to my factory on Thursday and its always wet where we are, mind you, as the UKs largest mineral water company it would be worrying if it ever did stop raining :D

 

I do also remember having a Vectra when the air con first started being fitted to regular cars and that used to mist up , was a good system even though it was a Vauxhall.

[Nick]

Sounds like you are loosing a/c gas when the system is under pressure. I pipe broke in my eveporator and I could hardly see the road! 1.35kg of gas in my face

[dipsomaniac]

Thanks Nick. Doesn't the dash need to come out to get to the evaporator, was it expensive? Did yours start as an occassional loss of gas before the pipe broke?

[italiastar]

I had the same problem in a dustbin (the italians call them Punto's which I hired in Italy last week. I managed to get rid of it for a Mazda 2 :D which worked perfectly. Why a dustbin - my kids said it was the only useful thing you could do with it! - fill it with rubbish.