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So I was tooling down the Mass Pike yesterday in my East Coast Festy, and couldn't get the AC to blow cold. The AC button was pressed in, amber light was on, fan was running, and AC compressor visibly spinning (so belt is OK).
At my next stop, I came back to the car and saw what appeared to be smoke coming out of the center console vents before even starting the engine. I disconnected the battery and "smoke" continued intermittently for a while.
I figured this was an electrical burning issue, but never smelled anything like burning -- no odors at all. So I got my fire extinguisher handy and continued to my next stop uneventfully.
I'm now figuring that some AC line blew and the "smoke" was really Freon. The car has only 148K miles on it and is rust-free.
QUESTIONS:
1. Can I continue to drive like this for a while (days, weeks, or months) and not worry about contaminants getting into the AC system?
2. Can an AC shop fix whatever broke and recharge the system (assuming it's now discharged) with Freon? Does the answer vary by state? I was thinking that Pittsburgh might be a convenient place next week.
At my next stop, I came back to the car and saw what appeared to be smoke coming out of the center console vents before even starting the engine. I disconnected the battery and "smoke" continued intermittently for a while.
I figured this was an electrical burning issue, but never smelled anything like burning -- no odors at all. So I got my fire extinguisher handy and continued to my next stop uneventfully.
I'm now figuring that some AC line blew and the "smoke" was really Freon. The car has only 148K miles on it and is rust-free.
QUESTIONS:
1. Can I continue to drive like this for a while (days, weeks, or months) and not worry about contaminants getting into the AC system?
2. Can an AC shop fix whatever broke and recharge the system (assuming it's now discharged) with Freon? Does the answer vary by state? I was thinking that Pittsburgh might be a convenient place next week.