subster

sometimes after having the air con on there is a nasty smell in the car, a bit like stale water. anyone any ideas.

AlexM

Hi,

If I remeber correctly, this problem is caused by mould or something else biological which is growing in your A/C condensor. It grows in the condensation..

I think this is easy to fix, and requires sterilising the condenser. Any a/c service agent should be able to advise.

Cheers,

Alex

BoardMonger

Subaru sells a spray which you can easily inject into your vents. I think you put it in the intake vents on the outside of your car.

subster

THANX...
that makes sense as the car was stood for a few months before i bought it.
P.S i am currently working for a Hella sales rep who has just been on a air conditioning course; at which he was told to advise customers to turn their air conditioning on for at least 10 mins every week. He also says air con can use as much 10% of your cars power

DavidRB

Anything with moving parts inside it should be used regularly. A/C units being left off all winter often sieze up. They also get problems with the seals failing if they're not used semi-regularly.

As for the 10% thing, it's one of the myths bandied around by people without A/C. A/C units typically take 5-10 bhp from an engine. That might be noticeable on a Perodua Nippa with 40 bhp, but not on a car with 215+ bhp. Your right foot is the biggest factor in fuel consumption and when you really need full power, the Impreza cuts off the A/C unit automatically!

Scooby-Duke

Interesting, my A/Con smells like chimney soot occasionally. But I can live with it. Like the sound of the spray though, does it work and what is the cost???

all the best......Dukey

orbv

I was advised to turn the AC off for the last 5 mins of a journey to stop this smell from happening.

Can not remember why but it did the trick.

submannz

My car was doing the same. I found it to be a leak from the right hand side, I still haven't located where it is coming from but the smell was the carpet in the fire wall.

The carpet on the inside of the car is plastic sealed so the carpet inside the car was still dry. I diagnosed it by a squishy sound then striped it down to confirm.

submannz

Scooby-Duke, they use carbon in the A/C to try to remove the odors from the system. They must have used chimney carbon in yours.

Shark

The smell is caused by bacteria build-up in the evaporator box in the car. A simple disinfectant treatment cures this with no need to regas. I’m no chemist, but bacteria grow due to the dampness, thus the smell. Again, if used regularly throughout out the winter with the heater on, shouldn’t be a problem.

The evaparator is exposed and a disinfectant sprayed in. Cures the problem easly.

David

Harry Potter

My air con used to stink, then I changed fiends and now I don't have that problem