Air con smell

JamesOC

JamesOC

New member
Sorry for this one, but wondered is this an F-Type specific issue or a more general air con one.

I’ve had the car 6 weeks now and only done a couple of hundred miles pottering or blasting the exhaust to blow away the cobwebs.

Did my first hour long drive today, back to work 😢 but grateful for clear roads and to be working I guess 👍 I do love the car, sound through the Hatfield tunnel was sublime 👍

I noticed after stopping say at lights and the engine has stop/started, the smell from the air vents is not good. First time I thought it was outside, then it happened a few more times and on the way back this afternoon. Before anyone asks I also checked it wasnt me 😂. It’s not a musty or mouldy like smell but more like Damp washing that hasn’t been aired properly.

Car is under a year old and I’ve had it 6 weeks, not sure how long it was on the forecour before I got it. Before I get one of those air con sanitisers I wondered if anyone else has experienced this And could offer any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, there are other threads on here reference your issue. Have you had the air con on and then parked up? The filter gets wet and then dries like a sponge by your sink. Then next time you use the car that smell comes through the vents. I use my air con but switch off a few miles before home to allow to dry out in air flow. Sure others will have their say. Phil
 
I had a 2014 V8S. I bought it and it had a wheaty smell, I never managed to cure it, so sold it after 12 months and bough5 a newer one. It was a real pain and driving the car wit( the roof up made me feel sick. The car was very clean and well cared for. The pollen filters were changed and the air cond cleaned on many occasions.
 
Thank you.

Ok, wet filter sounds like the culprit and it was probably already like that so now air con is being used it’s damp and emitting the smell again.

Luckily its not all the time and seems to be just after the engine stops and starts, not when I first set off.

I’ll search a bit as well and post any solutions that I get to work.

Thanks
 
JamesOC said:
Luckily its not all the time and seems to be just after the engine stops and starts, not when I first set off.
Click to expand...

There's your fix - turn stop/start off (you can't really be serious about fuel economy)! ;)
 
You can buy aircon fresheners that kill the bacteria in the filters/pipes, it's a spray can that you click on permanently, leave in the foot well with your aircon on max on internal recycle so it gets pulled through all the pipes. Search for autoglym aircon sanitizer for example, which I have used to good effect.
 
I had the damp smell coming from the air vents on another car I own and it was caused by a build-up of bacteria in the air-con and ventilation system.

I bought an air-con bomb which was used as Philskill describes above.........after doing this the damp smell never returned.

Another excellent product is ‘Normfest Viro Air Fresh Plus - A/C and Ventilation System Cleaner 300ml’. This is a spray which enters the ventilation system directly via the capillary tube and has a long-lasting destruction of bacteria.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/normfest-viro-air-fresh-plus-a-c-and-ventilation-system-cleaner-300ml-NOR2897300
 
Air bombs are good, however first port of call is always to;

Remove and run the AC flat out without any filter inline to establish of the issue is the filter.
This will help determine if it is indeed in the ducting behind the dash.

It is feasible that a foreign object/plant-seed/bug has got past the filter and is stuck in the evaporator fins and is either rotting/decomposing.

This smell would not go away until you cleaned the evaporator by hand and that's a PITA!
 
Yes, the air-con bomb worked with very good effect on my other car.

The cabin/pollen filter was changed at the required service intervals and after further inspection of it (and also the housing behind), I could see this wasn’t an issue.

Whatever caused the build-up of bacteria in the air-con and ventilation system was totally eradicated after using the air-con bomb so there wasn’t any need to clean the evaporator etc by hand.

The evaporator uses refrigerant liquid to cool the area around it and during this process the liquid itself begins to heat up which is eventually converted to gas. Other impurities like dust and pollen are also removed.
 
scm said:
JamesOC said:
Luckily its not all the time and seems to be just after the engine stops and starts, not when I first set off.
Click to expand...

There's your fix - turn stop/start off (you can't really be serious about fuel economy)! ;)
Click to expand...

Yes that’s what I do now 😂, just need to switch it off each time I drive as it defaults to on; I’m sure I’ll find how to set that if I try.
 
JamesOC said:
scm said:
JamesOC said:
Luckily its not all the time and seems to be just after the engine stops and starts, not when I first set off.
Click to expand...

There's your fix - turn stop/start off (you can't really be serious about fuel economy)! ;)
Click to expand...

Yes that’s what I do now 😂, just need to switch it off each time I drive as it defaults to on; I’m sure I’ll find how to set that if I try.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that! On the early models with a second battery the quick fix was to disconnect the second battery, which is used to maintain power to "essential services" during the stop phase. When that second battery is not available, stop/start is disabled. I don't think there's a Jaguar solution to disable it with the single battery system. However, it's only one extra step in the "normal" starup procedure - start, dynamic, stop/start. ;)
 
I thought someone mentioned there is a fuse you can pull?

... not that I bother as it auto-offs when I set Dynamic ;)
 
Why try to disable stop/start when it is a perfectly good feature of the car?..........better to get to the root cause of the issue which can probably be cured by replacing the pollen filter or by using an air-con bomb etc.
 
RPSN said:
Why try to disable stop/start when it is a perfectly good feature of the car?.
Click to expand...

"Perfectly good" is a rather subjective opinion. ;)
I'll agree it's a feature of the car, though. :D
 
I'm still wary of increased engine wear using stop/start. I know there are reports saying it's OK, but I have a nagging feeling that starting the engine with zero oil pressure can't be quite as good for it as leaving it ticking over.
 
All down to personal opinion with regards to the stop/start feature but I have no issues with it.

I would think that Jaguar has spent a lot of money on the research & development of this feature to ensure it is beneficial for the car and environment, without increasing engine wear etc.
 
JLR have been forced into doing it to meet EU regulations - it’s hardly going to be top of the development list for a performance car.

That fact that the engine stops and restarts more often will irrefutably cause more engine / component wear.

To get back onto the main topic I sprayed my vents with the Normfest product today - you only use about 1/3 of a can a time so I still had some at the back of the garage to use up.
Didn’t realise before that the “always open” feature of the centre vent only applies when the ignition is on and the fan on too.
You’re supposed to squirt it in with the fan off so you need to use the few seconds before the vent closes quickly! :D
 
Meeting EU regulations isn’t a bad thing when it comes to helping protect the environment.

In the same context you could also say the fact that the engine is running for less time with the stop/start feature enabled will reduce engine/component wear.

Better be quick with the Normfest spray can then! ;)
 
RPSN said:
The fact that the engine is running for less time with the stop/start feature enabled will also reduce engine/component wear.
Click to expand...

I bet that stopping and starting the engine has a more detrimental effect on the engine than it ticking over for half a minute during a temporary stop.
 
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