Smoke and smell from air vents?

Question

My car has smoke coming from the air vents. The ac works fine, but the smoke comes out when I don't have the air on. My car does not overheat. There is also an ugly smell, and the smoke will fog my windshield. Any ideas on what can be wrong?

Answer 1

you may have a busted heater core in it,what your seeing is actually anti-freeze coming out in a vapor like form,so you might want to have it checked out,also keep a good check on the coolant in it,if it is a heater core going bad it will be low on coolant,s don't let it get hot,but have it checked out,in case it isn't the heater core ,you may have something else happening to it,so don't take any chances with it,good luck on it.

Answer 2

If what coats the inside of your windshield is slightly wet it is probably a leak in your heater core that is letting engine coolant into your car.

If this is what's going on, the bad smell is anti-freeze. Check you coolant level to see if it's low.

Answer 3

That sounds like you have a leak in the heater core. Does the smell have the aroma of antifreeze? I had the same thing some years ago.

Answer 4

You may have antifreeze vapors getting into your vents.
A friend of mine had a similar problem. Antifreeze has a bit of a sweet smell though not exactly pleasant.

I unfortunately don't know what fixed it.
Check for leaks under your car. something may be dripping and burning up near your vents.

incase you don't know...antifreeze is green, transmission fluid is red, oil is brown

Answer 5

It could be the cigarette smoke or if you just turned on the heat your vents will smell smokey for awhile. I would report it to the landlord--i hate cigarette smoke. Yuck!!

Answer 6

sounds like a leaking heater core