General AC air intake location

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General AC air intake location

Geolith

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I need to spray some disinfectant into the AC air passages, so I'm looking for the intake location. Where should I spray the stuff exactly? Just in the vicinity of these plastic grills? Please advise.
 

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I've disinfected the a/c system on a couple of cars in the past, and each time have used a product that has come in a "one shot" aerosol. You start the car, turn the a/c on and set the system to recirculate. You stand the aerosol can in one of the footwells and trigger it, which will cause it to spray until the contents are exhausted. As soon as it's triggered, you shut the car door and leave the engine and a/c running for about 10 minutes. Finally, open a door and set the system to draw air from the outside for a couple of minutes to flush it clear.
I've found this works pretty well, but the best way of keeping the a/c odour free is to never switch it off. This policy is also good for the seals in the system as it keeps them lubricated.
 
I've found this works pretty well, but the best way of keeping the a/c odour free is to never switch it off.

I never bothered with climate control settings, always kept it on auto. I'll switch the AC on and see if it helps. Thanks!
 
Nothing wrong with leaving it on Auto, it seems to work well, just make sure a/c is on, too. If there's a bad smell, using a bactericide as described above should get rid of it.
 
Nothing wrong with leaving it on Auto, it seems to work well, just make sure a/c is on, too.

That's the thing, turning the AC on switches the auto mode off and activates the manual controls. They seem to be mutually exclusive.
 
As a side note, there is no persistent odor in my case. It's just when I turn the car on after an 8-hour parking under direct sun I get this unpleasant smell for a couple of minutes, until the system ventilates itself. Everything is fine after night parking (or any sunless parking for that matter), no smells, nothing.

I bought this AC cleaner this morning in a local auto store. Will try today and see how it goes.
 

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Yes, I had that brief smell with my 500 but never got around to doing anything.
Your car is a US model, which may behave differently. If I switch off the ac on mine, the Auto light goes off. If I push the Auto button, it goes back to Auto mode and ac comes back on again! Strange.
 
Yes, I had that brief smell with my 500 but never got around to doing anything.
Your car is a US model, which may behave differently. If I switch off the ac on mine, the Auto light goes off. If I push the Auto button, it goes back to Auto mode and ac comes back on again! Strange.



It depends on what temp you have set ,my air con works on auto at all temps. If temp is quite high on auto the ac will switch off when auto is pressed.
 
Seems to be a bit of confuaion over AC/ Auto.

AC is just like a cold fan, and the more you dial up the speed the colder it gets quicker.

Auto (sometimes called climate control) uses AC to modulate the temperature to the number set on the temp dials. So say the ambient temperature is 24, you set to 20, the AC kicks in (although the auto light is on) and lowers the temperature to 20, then it keeps the temp at 20 until you turn auto off. A good thing in hot weather about having auto constantly on is the car never gets too hot and the fan will only spin at low speed qhich is quieter.... and less draughty.
 
Yes, when I referred to having ac on, I was referring to the ac lamp on the left hand knob being on. This indicates that the compressor is active. If you turn this off using the associated button, the temperature in the car will never be less than ambient.

There is also a button on the centre knob which turns the whole system off.
 
So, basically, when I switch the AC on, it annuls the auto mode to give me the full control. Otherwise, the system decides whether the AC should be working or not, based on the set temperature. The fact that the AC light is always off in the auto mode doesn't necessarily mean it's not working.
 
My manual states that the button with the A/C orange lamp is the "Climate Control System Compressor On/Off Button". It doesn't elaborate as to whether the lamp is always on when the compressor is active, but I would assume that would be the case. Easy to find out if it cools whenthe lamp is off - wait for a warm day, set the climate control to minimum temperature, and see if it blows cool air.
 
So, basically, when I switch the AC on, it annuls the auto mode to give me the full control. Otherwise, the system decides whether the AC should be working or not, based on the set temperature. The fact that the AC light is always off in the auto mode doesn't necessarily mean it's not working.

Does your car have Air Conditioning (hot-cold knob) or Climate Control (digital display of temperature selected)? Sounds like CC but you are running in Manual mode


If it is AC the light tells you the AC is selected on and the compressor is always running. If it is CC the light on tells you that you have manually selected the compressor on. In Auto CC mode the compressor comes on and off as required and there is no light to say if it is running or not.
Recommended setting for CC is auto all the time.
Not running the compressor can lead to bad smells, dried out seals, internal corrosion and loss of gas. Even with AC you should try to run the AC once a week or so regardless of the weather.


Robert G8RPI.
 
I have mentioned in other threads I did have to have my AC regassed when we bought it as it had been stood for a bit but the system generally in the 500X seems to work very well - i.e. It gets damn cold!
 
I have mentioned in other threads I did have to have my AC regassed when we bought it as it had been stood for a bit but the system generally in the 500X seems to work very well - i.e. It gets damn cold!



I was told by my dealer that under normal conditions this new gas does not need to be changed regularly. Not sure wether to believe him or not
 
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