2017 Subaru - A puff of smoke followed by the coldest blowing AC my car has ever put out?!

booster.scoots_5m_194335
Sun, 10 Aug 2025 19:56:47 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

My 2017 Subaru Crosstrek has always had very wimpy air conditioning, ever since I bought it brand new. When you first start it up, it blows room temperature, barely cool air until you get on the highway and drive a few miles. It doesn’t really get cold until you’ve been driving 10-15 minutes. It makes for an uncomfortable start to every trip in the summer, but I assumed it was just a crummy design and lived with it.

Well, the other day I started my car and noticed grey smoke billowing out of the exhaust. I was alarmed - this has never happened before - and at the same time, the AC started blowing ice cold air. Right after starting the car! The smoke stopped after about 30 seconds and the car drove fine for that trip, with great, ice cold air conditioning.

It hasn’t happened again. My AC is back to being… extremely lame. But now that I know it can be good, it’s got me thinking: what caused this puff of smoke followed by amazingly cool AC? Could the two be connected?

Has anyone ever experienced anything similar!?

Any ideas are welcome, no matter how crazy they might be…

10 posts - 7 participants