musty smell from air con

anoda_username

as above, I tried spray by Comma but smell lingers, only noticeable when I turn the heating on but not the cold air. I presume its just mould and bacteria in the vents, would changing pollen filter help? Should I give the Comma air con cleaner another go? Would I need a full valet? 05 focus.

but43r

Do your windows steam up when you turn air con on full blast (hot air) and direct at the windscreen?
If so you might have a small hole in your heater matrix.

Has the car been sitting for a while and not driven?

mb1725

I used this stuff http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=168003&pk=9C7F6 and a new cabin filter on the OH's car yesterday. Left it in for a while and it blew out some crud when blowers were switched on. Nice fresh smell in it today though.

anoda_username

Thanks for replies, i will turn on hot air over the weekend and see if windows steam up. The car was sitting up for a year and a half. Mb1725 what's a cabin filter?

colm_mcm

Cabin filter is the same as a pollen filter. Its often behind the glovebox.

mb1725

anoda_username wrote: »

Thanks for replies, i will turn on hot air over the weekend and see if windows steam up. The car was sitting up for a year and a half. Mb1725 what's a cabin filter?

Cabin filter is the one under the air intake at the scuttle. It was just behind a cover held on with a bunch of screws on the OH's car.

colm_mcm

Just spotted what car it was!

anoda_username

Ad must be still active? What do u think could be the prob? I used heating a good bit in first few days and have to say didn't notice any fog on the windows. If I got pollen filter changed it would help?

djimi

Definitely change the pollen filter first. The amount of **** that had build up on mine was unreal; was causing a horrible smell when the A/C was in use.

anoda_username

Changed pollen filter, it was fairly black. Still a fusty smell in the car, hard to tell if it is coming from elsewhere or just need to air out further. Smell seems to get worse when driving with wondow open! Planning on steaming the seats in the next couple of weeks..anything else you would recommend doing?

djimi

Turn on the A/C and run it full blast for a few minutes through the new pollen filter. When I changed mine there was still a bit of a buildup of ****e in the system that needed to be blasted out.

anoda_username

Thanks Djimi, I did that over the last few days but there is still a smell lingering in the car. Anything I can do short of getting a valet?

wowy

I got a new cabin filter about 3 weeks ago, which improved the smell in my car, but with the recent hot weather I've noticed the smell is back. I used the Kilma Cleaner from Mick's Garage (ordered yesterday, delivered today, not too bad) and it seems to be a huge improvement. Will see how it is tomorrow once the chemicals, etc have dissipated a bit more, but very happy with initial results.

H3llR4iser

At this point you might want the system to be professionally cleaned.

To avoid the stagnation of condensation and growth of fungus in the future, a good idea is to let the system "dry" by reopening the circulation a few minutes before stopping the car.

wowy

H3llR4iser wrote: »

At this point you might want the system to be professionally cleaned.

To avoid the stagnation of condensation and growth of fungus in the future, a good idea is to let the system "dry" by reopening the circulation a few minutes before stopping the car.

Apols for confusion - I'm not the OP; just resurrecting this thread that I had been following since before I had the filter changed.

H3llR4iser

wowy wrote: »

Apols for confusion - I'm not the OP; just resurrecting this thread that I had been following since before I had the filter changed.

Advice stands, a good cleaning of fungi can't really hurt

anoda_username

H3llR4iser wrote: »

At this point you might want the system to be professionally cleaned.

To avoid the stagnation of condensation and growth of fungus in the future, a good idea is to let the system "dry" by reopening the circulation a few minutes before stopping the car.

Professionally cleaned - would the air con be cleaned in a full valet or where could I get this done?
Reopening the circulation how do you mean? Putting on air con for few mins every day?
At this stage I'm not 100pc sure where the smell is coming from

H3llR4iser

anoda_username wrote: »

Professionally cleaned - would the air con be cleaned in a full valet or where could I get this done?
Reopening the circulation how do you mean? Putting on air con for few mins every day?
At this stage I'm not 100pc sure where the smell is coming from

Never had the cleaning done here in Ireland; Had it on an Alfa 155 in Italy, and it was the guy servicing the air conditioning system that did it (essentially a mechanic specialized in hi-fi and car electrics). He took the evaporator out, washed it, put it back together and the whole system was like new.

As for the care of it, what I mean is this: when the air conditioning is on, usually the ventilation system is set to recirculate air. You can avoid building up too much condensation in the system by deactivating the air conditioning some 5-10 minutes before actually stopping the car and, more importantly, by deactivating the recirculation and have the fan suck in "cleaner" air from the outside.