Technical Air condition stinks

[Karletto]

Hey

Hot summer came and air condition is used a lot. I could smell the air comming out of it already last year but now it stinks realy bad.
I already found something on the internet. It says that this happens because in those tubes some kind of bacteria and mold builds up over time so that's why it begins to smell bad. How to fix it?

 

[AndyRKett]

when not used its like a fridge turned off with the door left closed.

when in use moisture builds up on the condenser which is a fantastic environment for bacteria and bugs (Air conditioning is a favourite for Legionella which has been in the news a lot recently) to grow in, the more intermittent you use it the more this happens.
if the interior of the car is damp then this will make it worse as well.

you can buy cleaning agents you run through by turning the air inlet to 'recirculate' and running the fans and aircon for a while with the cleaning agent being released into the car, usually does the job, some companies will charge you a fortune for an "air conditioning service" and they will do pretty much this.

also check that the drain for the air con isn't blocks as this can make the smell worse too as it traps moisture in the car, best way to tell is if the passenger footwell is damp and after a long journey with the air con on you should get a little puddle of water under the car passenger side just behind the front wheel and about a foot under the car

 

[panoramix3519]

maybe you have to change the cabin filter

 

[Ziggy122]

Those "bomb" things work for a short while - but dont kill the bacteria off
the smell does come back!

Find a decent air con place - you need the filters as well deoderising / replacing

Ziggy

 

[RB2009]

Needs professional treatment,

I have use a special smoke machine that fogs whole interior of the car with an antibacterial and anti virus cleaner which kills just about any bacteria when I do customer cars.

Alternatively I can also do a clean where I use a flaming cleaner put straight into the evaporator housing.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Needs professional treatment,

Rubbish!

 

[Brendan W]

My money is on a blocked drain tube. Bacteria need moisture. Some cars are fitted with afterblow - running the fan after you lock the car to dry the evaporator. If the car has been run with no filter it's possible that dirt has made it's way to the evap making things worse.

 

[AndyRKett]

My money is on a blocked drain tube. Bacteria need moisture. Some cars are fitted with afterblow - running the fan after you lock the car to dry the evaporator. If the car has been run with no filter it's possible that dirt has made it's way to the evap making things worse.

This is a really good point I was going to bring up after seeing MEPs post earlier today.

If the drain tube is blocked in a mk2 punto you get a wet passenger side front carpet, and to unblock it is a real pain as you really need to get under the car to do a proper job