Smells like a tramp...

Andy101

Andy101

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Everytime I start the car with the AC turned on I get 30 seconds worth of air that smells like a tramp. It clears itself in a minute or two. Is there anywhere that water could collect around the air intake that may be causing this....any suggestions are welcomed apart from the advice 'that I start selling the Big Issue'
 
yes ill be interested in this one as I get the same stink aswell...
 
yes my mate said halfords do one for £11 so going to give it a go this weekend.

Mine clears after a while but soon as I switch ECON mode on the smell comes back!
 
Also check around the battery for lying water. The drain hole under the battery on mine was bung with crud. I had to remove 9 litres of stagnent water. This was last summer when the warmth made the smell strong. In the end I need a new servo as it had rusted from the depth of water!!!! I doubt that is your problem, but well worth checking!
 
where's the aircon intake (where you stray the anti-bacterial stuff).... mine started smelling a bit in the warm weather a few weeks back and started again this week :(

do you need to remove any filters before spraying?
 
The halfords/Comma stuff, you set the car on max, the recirc and stick the can behind the seats to let it be sucked around the system on its own right. Seems to work short term, but does come back. My B5 is the same atm, needs doing agin, but i think i may try a more professional solution and get someone to do it...
 
I have the very same problem,I have bought some cleaner from ALDI for £2 a mate of mine has tried it and has done the trick it is exactly the same as the halfords stuff you put it in the car with engine running for 10mins and it cleans out save yourself the Halfords money and get yourself to ALDI.I doubt it works long term but for a short term fix itseasy money!
 
Redspudder - that, I'd already decided to pop down to Halfords before they close.... there's one 5mins down the road from me and about an hour's round-trip to get to an Aldi, so that's bakc in Halfords (£11.73) favour when that's an hour of my Sunday ;)

I've just bought and run the Comma kit.... will see how it goes.... might grab half-a dozen of theose Aldi ones next time I see a store.
 
The only reservation i have is that on the can it states press the button and leave in the car for 10mins with engine running and air con on full bore,But im not sure if the can sprays from the back footwell then would the stuff go all over my seats and stain?
I've just paid £25 for a full vallet and dont want any mess on my seats im gona give it a go later on so if you can advise how the Comma kit went i would be grateful.
 
hmmm..... this link from Detailingworld

I have used the Comma version and the W5 from Lidl, the Comma was the longest lasting, however the W5 cost £1.20 and even if it were used twice /year still works out better value, to throw into the fold, car pride now offer one, was £2 from Aldi, similar can size and packaging to the comma version,
Click to expand...

£1.20 and there's a Lidl store not too far away!
 
defintely no residue.... whole car smells like it's been wiped down with Detol handy-wipes, but none of it is visible or able to find it to the touch... the mist that get's sprayed is visible, but very much airborne... the idea is that it does NOT get itself on the interior, but to get it in the air flow around the car....

not sure if it's helped / messed up the process, but I did read a bit about how some people have had it work reasonably wekk for the aircon, but then ECON mode still stinks, so I popped the door open and popped ECON once it was all done (but there was still a bit of the vapour floating around the car) - the theory being that it would clear out that part of the system too....

Apparently cycling back and forth between max hot and max cold (for 10mins) also helps kill bacteria, so I might have a crack and that then then empty one of those W5 canisters on aircon and another on ECON, back to back... that should do it (although it may well render the car a no-go area for a day or two!)....
 
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audi upgrades
Yep, my motor smells like a damp dog when you first put air con on...or you switch from Aircon to ECON mode....its just a crap system.....and Audi don't give a toss about it !

Its been "deodorised" twice by Preston Audi....which worked for a few days then back to damp dog again.....

Never had any problems with my old 1999 328 Sport BMW which was 7 to 8 years old when I sold it and the air con never stank, and it was a lot colder as well......
 
Just had this delivered
NO MORE STINKY AIRCON

for less than £8. WIll report back how it works over the next few days. Claims to remove the bacteria though, we shall see...
 
Smells like a tramp :haha:LMFAO every time i put my aircon on the smell hits me smack in the face and the title of this thred brings a chuckle to me because it is the exact description of the smell.
Anyway i gave the £2 ALDI version a go a couple of days ago and i must say it has made absoulutely no difference what so ever:sob:
I was in Tesco last night and i noticed carplan do a version of the aircon cleaner @£4.99 i am going to purchase some on the way home and give it a try i have used various carplan products in the past and they usually come up trumps autoexpress always give them high marks on there products features for shampoo car waxes ect so ill give it a go.
 
I used the Aldi stuff in mine and its made the air con smell much fresher so I reckon its worth a couple of quid. I had trouble getting the button to stay down so I just got a couple of small cable ties and made sure it stayed open.

No residue in the car and it smells quite nice now
 
Does anyones screen wash smell like cat wee?
 
It certainly does and a ****** big cat at that! Ran the washers dry the other week and filled with fresh mix (how big is the reservoir?) but still got the same old stink every time I wash the screen! Also how the hell do you adjust the jets if you're not a ambidextrous midget contortionist?!? :uhm:
 
lol! I think the reservoir needs cleaning out properly to tackle the problem fully. Not sure how big the reservoir is though, or how it comes out, not looked. Have bought this though FRESH AS, ERM, ORANGES?!

and all seems ok (for now at least). Bit cheeky on the old postage costs, mind you.
 
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Ok a few tips here...

Smelly washer jets, i used to get this with my B5 A4, do not use old screen wash, i put it down to this, in the end I washed out my header tank with disinfectent then leave it for a few hours then rinse out with fresh clean water quite a few times, this worked and the smell never came back.

Smelly air con, well what is happening is your leaving your aircon on when you stop the car, the best way to stop the smell is to turn the aircon off a mile or so from your house or where you stop then the evaporator will dry out and not leave the musty smell you get when you restart. This is totally impractical I found, so buy a can of Comma Air con spray and this sorts out the inside but then remove the pollen filter and spray in a few squrts of disinfectent not too much as this goes into the blower motor, this should then last 6 months or so.

Try drying out the evaporator by putting the heat to full on, this should dry it out fully.
 
audi upgrades
washer jets never been a prob, but then I always use pre-mixed anti-smudge and de-icer stuff...

air-con is loads better, but the ECON part of the system still clearly has that slightly sharp "cat-wee" edge to it when you first switch to it.... need to try some of those Lidl £1 jobs in Air-Con and ECON modes and then blast it in hot for10mins or so and dry out the system properly.
 
Re the orangy stuff..... haven;t we got somebody on the forum from Aberdeen that can pop along and buy a few boxes of that stuff and then post it for £1 a bottle?
 
lostbok said:
Re the orangy stuff..... haven;t we got somebody on the forum from Aberdeen that can pop along and buy a few boxes of that stuff and then post it for £1 a bottle?
Click to expand...

Good thinking :icon_thumright:
 
I NEVER use the econ button my aircon is on 24/7 and It has never smelt either on use or initial start up.
 
My air-con is still fudged :( so now that summer's here I'm missing it again! Long story short it's been re-gassed but still no go. An independent 'specialist' had a look and told me it needed a new compressor at £470 + VAT (@17.5 %) so thought I'd better get a 2nd opinion. Asked Poole Audi to run a diagnostic check when it went in for cam-belt at Xmas but they forgot! Was told it might be the pressure switch/sensor so bought one off PJM Speedy (top service - thanks Paul!) only to find out you have to drain the system before removing said switch/sensor! So does anybody know of a good, reliable mobile air-con guy in the Bournemouth area or does anyone locally have vag-com and can do me a diagnostic in exchange for some beer tokens?

Cheers

Richard
 
Just an update to say there are no more horrid air con smells after using the Wynns, and at present the Orange screenwash seems to be doing the trick too. Granted these have only been less than a week, so timne will tell.
 
Glad I've found this thread, and comforting to know I'm not the only one suffering this. Exact same symptoms in my A3. Horrible smell for a minute or so on startup, then it clears. Had an aircon service at Hitchin Audi 2 months ago but the smell returned a few days later. They put another load of antibac stuff through the system but smell has still reappeared. I've lost count of the number of spray/bombs I've used. I've tried comma aircon cleaner and a cheaper one from Tesco but they haven't worked. I don't know whether to keep on spending money trying some of the other sprays mentioned here, or ripping the system apart to see if there's anything else I can do!
 
I have this smell when i use the Econ button. Smells like a 70year old has ****** there pants. The answer is, i dont use the Econ button lol.
 
2 week on update, seems to have done the trick. All good for now!
 
Marc, is this the Wynn's cleaner that you used?

There seem to be a few versions of the Wynns one out there! Including one with long pipes!!
 
Have you boys checked your cabin filter is clean and dry?

All the air that comes into the car through the vents comes through this filter so if its damp/mouldy or whatever then that smell is going to come into the car too.

Have solved a couple of stinky cars before just by changing the filter
 
Garfie - do you mean the pollen filter? Mine's now stinking like the laundry room in a nursing home even when i'm NOT squirting my washers!! I'm sure i've replaced the pollen filter at some point but can't remember exactly how and when? :think: I'm going to pop out and have a quick look as it'd be good to get this problem sorted!

Richard
 
Well I've just gone out and stuck my head under the bonnet (why does it always start to rain whenever I want to do anything to the car?) and the cabin (pollen?) filter is dirty but doesn't appear to be damp and doesn't whiff when sniffed (hope no one was looking out of their office window!). I seem to remember that the filter's about a tenner so got to be worth a go! Will report back (although have just had the car MOT'd and got them to check the air-con - the compressor's fudged and is gonna cost in the region of £620!?!) although it could be the fact that my air-con has not been working for 15 months and the bacteria might be building up in the system!
 
henry74 said:
Garfie - do you mean the pollen filter? Mine's now stinking like the laundry room in a nursing home even when i'm NOT squirting my washers!! I'm sure i've replaced the pollen filter at some point but can't remember exactly how and when? :think: I'm going to pop out and have a quick look as it'd be good to get this problem sorted!

Richard
Click to expand...

Yes I did mean the pollen filter, I see you guessed that anyway but wanted to confirm it for you.
 
lostbok said:
Marc, is this the Wynn's cleaner that you used?

There seem to be a few versions of the Wynns one out there! Including one with long pipes!!
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, I didn't see this post. Yeah that's the stuff.
 
ok so I said id resurrect this old thread instead of starting a new one about the same topic...

i'm being effected by this problem now aswel... ive had the car for over 2 years now and this is only coming to light now...

from reading the thread I need to run the air con on full heat for 10 mins followed by full cold for 10 mins...

but does anyone know if lidl of aldi still sell the air con cleaner stuff???
 
scott b said:
sort of on subject, my car does have the aircon system in the engine bay and an econ button, but i cant see a normal looking air con button........
Click to expand...

Audi's come with Climate control there is no Air con button like you get in cheaper cars, like a pic of a snow flake.. :)

We have a ECON button, when the ECON button is lit up the compressor is turned off, this will save you MPG, when the ECON button is turned off the compressor is working and controlling the temprature in the car, when you select LO as the temp and ECON light is out then it works the same as any other car, you just get nice cold air from the vents.

You will notice when the temp goes below 4c the compressor turns off and the musty smell comes back this is due to a safety cut off on the air con system to stop anything freezing, it's pretty annoying too as your car just suddenly steams up for no reason, most other cars turn the compressor off at 0c or lower :(
 
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