Technical 500S - Air-Con - Strange smell on start-up

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Technical 500S - Air-Con - Strange smell on start-up

DBunX

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Hi,

I've had my 500s for around 6 months, and have noticed that over the last few weeks whenever I start the car (and it has been off for a few hours) and switch on the A/C I get a small that can only be described as what you get when you drive past a field with lots of animal droppings in it. After a minute or two it goes away.

I'm assuming there is something causing this, as it is most definatly a new 'thing' which was not there before.
 
Are you using fresh air or recirculated? I find in any car recirculated air needs to be used sparingly. Does this only occur when using "aircon" as opposed to the air fan?
 
Ah, really didn't think of that tbh (first car with Air-Con :eek: )

I'll turn that off and see how it runs for a few days without it. I don't use the air-fan too much but I think that the smell does appear for a few seconds when I do put it on, but not as long as using the actual climate control.
 
Ah, really didn't think of that tbh (first car with Air-Con :eek: )



I'll turn that off and see how it runs for a few days without it. I don't use the air-fan too much but I think that the smell does appear for a few seconds when I do put it on, but not as long as using the actual climate control.


Might be some bacteria in the system that needs to be cleared out and or stagnant water sitting in the ac drain, best use the ac regularly for a while and see if it goes away
 
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you can buy a can of ac cleaner, Halfords sell it though is prob cheaper on Amazon or Ebay, you set it off in the car with ac on(engine running), fans on full and recirculation on and close all the doors and windows and leave it for however long it says, works ok if it's only a slight smell, have used it in a few cars. :)
 
Happens to me all the time if I use fan without ac on. I use recirc 90% of the time because I drive in a town which is very polluted. Only use fan without ac with air coming from outside.
If you use recirc, use fan with ac on and the smell disappears.
 
Hi,

I've had my 500s for around 6 months, and have noticed that over the last few weeks whenever I start the car (and it has been off for a few hours) and switch on the A/C I get a small that can only be described as what you get when you drive past a field with lots of animal droppings in it. After a minute or two it goes away.

I'm assuming there is something causing this, as it is most definatly a new 'thing' which was not there before.

Harping back to the recent other thread on aircon, the symptoms you describe are a classic example of your aircon requiring a service. The system will probably have bacteria in it which no amount of aircon refreshers will get rid of, they just mask the symptoms for a while. If your aircon has never to your knowledge been serviced, do yourself and your health a favour and spend the £50 or so quid getting it done. Also, I suspect your pollen filter needs changing too. Dirty blocked and damp pollen filters will cause a stink.
 
Ah, really didn't think of that tbh (first car with Air-Con :eek: )

It's pretty normal for the A/C to smell a bit when you turn it off after it's been running, and at first start up. I think all cars do it to some degree, even brand new ones. It's good practice to switch off the A/C and setting the air to 'fresh' just before turning the engine off (say 60 seconds, just enough time for the incoming air temp to reach external ambient). It helps avoid that build up of bacteria.
 
I've had my 500s for around 6 months.

Harping back to the recent other thread on aircon, the symptoms you describe are a classic example of your aircon requiring a service.

Given that the 'S' spec has been out for a little over 6 months, and given that it's only just starting to get warm in the UK (I presume), are you suggesting that the A/C needs servicing monthly?
 
Harping back to the recent other thread on aircon, the symptoms you describe are a classic example of your aircon requiring a service. The system will probably have bacteria in it which no amount of aircon refreshers will get rid of, they just mask the symptoms for a while. If your aircon has never to your knowledge been serviced, do yourself and your health a favour and spend the £50 or so quid getting it done. Also, I suspect your pollen filter needs changing too. Dirty blocked and damp pollen filters will cause a stink.


Frupi relax with the AC servicing!
 
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Frupi relax with the AC servicing!

Lol, I just find it funny it winds people up like you who don't want to spend any money, which is par for the course for many car owners. Run it 'til it breaks mentality.

Six months or not, I have no idea when the OP's car was built. It may well have been built to order or it might have been built 12 months before he bought the car, just like my own TA was. For the record, we don't have any issues with the aircon on our TA, no strange smells on start up and the aircon is used every single day. On my other car, the aircon was pretty stinky some days and the pollen filter was clean but once I'd had it serviced, no smells or anything else untoward.

As for the pollen filter itself, I could be completely wrong here, but I'm guessing that dependent on where you live, pollution levels may be markedly different say if you live in the centre of London or any major city or if you live up on Dartmoor or anywhere in the countryside, the pollen filter is going to be filtering varying air quality. Bacteria or stagnant water, as has already been mentioned, is probably the primary cause of most aircon issues, I just don't understand people's beef with getting the system serviced once in a while, it's not like someone is asking you to rip your heart out! :devil:

One other thing worth checking, is the aircon drain hose. They sometimes get blocked, probably not an issue on a very new car, but still worth looking at.
 
Ok, I've run it for around a week without using the reconditioned air and it doesn't seem to make a difference. A few times I actually forgot to put the aircon on at all (so the whole system was off) and the smell still came through as if its something in the engine being pushed out the vents.

The smell is only there for a minute or two before it vanishes, and only appears when the car hasn't been used for more than a few hours.

Could it be a filter? I would have thought if it was the smell would always come through and not go away soon after starting?
 
It's possible something died in your intake plenum. Take off the wipers, take off the cowl, and have a look, give it all a good clean.
 
Some years ago we suffered a similar smell problem with a Citroen's aircon. The garage gave me a tin of bactericide which cleared the smell. They also advised to leave it on all the time, which keeps the bacteria down and also keeps all the seals lubricated. I've done that ever since with a variety of cars, and not had a smell or a/c problem. Also, with modern syatems, there's no noticable detriment to performance or economy. Leave the a/c on, and adjust the temperature with the appropriate knob.
 
Some good advise given there.I am a new 500c owner (well, my wife is) ;) & I am a vehicle tech, I do a fair bit' of ac stuff ;) a good way to run your ac is: say you are returning to a hot car, drive off, open all windows,(this lets a lot of heat energy out) now put ac on (recirc initially) now close windows, wait a mile or so (weather dependant), now switch to fresh air.
The smell (dead bones smell is how some describe it) ;) is bacteria on evaporator as previously stated-some 'ac sprays' are more of a deodorant (imho) but a good one is 'forte' (I don't work for them)
anyway, try the above-you may find it works.
hth-yann
 
Thanks all, more than enough to try out! I'll give it a few days to try these and let you know how I get on :D
 
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