Whiffy Air-con

[henry74]

Hi All,
I'm a forum virgin so be gentle with me! i just wanted a second opinion (or more!) on a problem i've got with my air-con. When first turned on I get a smell from the vents that can only be described as stinking like the laundry pile in an old peoples home the day before wash-day! It lasts for anywhere between 30 seconds and 1 minute. I've changed the pollen filter as a work colleague had had the same problem and that did the trick. However i'm still getting the same old pong. I'm guessing the system might need re-gassing but was just interested if anyone else has had the same problem? Any comments gratefully received.

 

[technics100]

The smell is from bacteria and mould that has built up over time in the vents and pipes of your heater system. You can get cans of cleaner which you spray in the car and put the air con on recirculation mode, it sucks the spray through the system and eliminates the smell. some found on ebay (i think halfords do it to)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CARPLAN-Car-A...ryZ28641QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mine has the same smell, must get round to doing this...

 

[henry74]

Many thanks for that info! I was going to Halfords tomorrow night to get some mountain bike goodies so i'll have a look for that CarPlan cleaner at the same time. I'll just have to remember to have the drivers window open when i start the car in the morning or i might bring up my Crunchy Nuts!

 

[pav-g]

Yeah the pong is common with most cars equiped with ac - usually caused by lack of use - thats why manufactures usually suggest usuing the ac frequently - but hey sods law who wants to use it in winter when its already ****** freezing. I didnt know you can get something to neutralise the smell - let us know what the sprays called when you go to halfords. Cheers

 

[joost]

You can still use AC when it's cold - it's fecking great at clearing misted up windows on cold or wet mornings. Only problem is that when you switch it off, they mist up again!!

 

[spuddie007]

Have the same problem - just got one from the man on ebay above....

Thanks technics.......

 

[WHITEY_1]

I have the same problem to but not to the piont that it stinking like the laundry pile like henry

 

[henry74]

Well guys i've just used a can of Comma Air Conditioning Cleaner (£11.99 from Halfrauds!) to see if that does the trick. I'm going to give it an hour or so and then start her up - keep your fingers crossed! I'll report back later with hopefully positive results.

Cheers

Richard

 

[MrJoshua]

I bought some spray from Euro Car Parts tonight (around £10). You turn the air con off, then spray it into all the vents and then also into the air intake under the pollen filter. You let it sit for 15 minutes, then drive for 2km with the air con off, then turn it back on again.

Seems a bit conveluted to me... But I'm hoping it'll work.

 

[WHITEY_1]

Henry just bought exactly the same as you at 3.30 today, I did it about 4.30 and I think its a load of ****! I did exactly what it said on the tin but the only thing I havent done is change the filter for the air conditioning, BUT I do not know where this is on my car! If anyone knows can you let me know? Thanks

 

[james0808]

Its next to the battery.

 

[WHITEY_1]

thanks james
i just started it this morning and it still smells the same, its got to be the filter needs changing. Ill check it later on today

 

[Caesium]

I used this stuff and although it did clean out my air con it left a sticky residue everywhere! all over the vents/dash etc.

 

[henry74]

The news is not good! Having followed the instructions to the letter there is a small improvement. However the stench is still quite strong when the air-con is first turned on and is still always present to some degree. What really annoys me is that i've been using the air-con right throughout the winter since buying the car in September (approx 9500 miles). Does anybody know of a good air-con specialist in the East Dorset/Bournemouth/Poole area?

 

[Mcgough]

Problem with the audi is that the aircon does not close fully when switched off!!

I made Audi clean mine and flush the system under warrenty- as there is nothing in the write up and serivce schedual about this so they they are to fault, they wanted £79 but i rang customer services and they agreed it should be in service book.

In future they told me to run the econ mode for last 2 mins of my journey that allows the aircon to switch of and the bacteria to be blown/flushed out- no problems since on all my cars!!

 

[dive007]

get a/c coil cleaner and spray onto cooling coils then flush away with water

 

[dive007]

for got to say after flushing you can spray an antifungal just like used in commercial fridges . cut out bacteria
(fridge engineer)

 

[Caesium]

get a/c coil cleaner and spray onto cooling coils then flush away with water

The cooling coils are deep under the dashboard!

 

[henry74]

Well it's coming up to nearly a week since i've hopefully cured the problem! The Comma stuff from Halfords was crap - didn't really make any difference and left residue all over the dash and windows! Apparently the stuff to use is made by Forte and is pretty potent. In the end i got the entire system flushed, lubricated and re-gassed for £90 inc. vat at the local Masterfit garage. Now that the smell of the cleaner has subsided everything seems ok (touch wood!). Thanks to everybody who offered advice - hopefully yours never gets as bad as mine was!