Smelly Air-con! Yuk

[biglunn]

Well... noticed in this warmer weather that when I first start using Aircon, the smell is disgusting! Gets a bit better after a bit of use but it is foul.

Any ideas how to get rid of the smell??

 

[Mattieuk]

My mates car is the same it smells like sweaty socks!!!!!! Anyway he got a company to come out and service / re fill his aircon (£75), they said it was bacteria due to not using the aircon during the winter. They spayed something into the system and the smell has gone.

Hope this helps

 

[telford_mike]

Renault dealers can do this too - they have some stuff that kills the bacteria.

 

[biglunn]

I have used the aircon quite regularly over the winter to demist the car. But if there is bacteria in the system it would make sense for it to grow much more in the hotter weather. Will ask a dealer to kill off the bacteria.

On the note of refilling the system - how much does that cost? Is it a dealer-only job (excpensive) Is it really nessesary on a 3 year old car??

 

[telford_mike]

When I had mine re-gassed it cost £65 (172 Mk2). You dont need to have this done if the air-cons working ok - they can just kill the bugs.

 

[Jon_1]

I just used mine til the smell went, perfectly odorless now

 

[entjm]

dont need it re-gassing. you can get an aerosol from halfrauds.

you set it off and close the car with the air con running and it set to recirculate the air. come back in 10 mins and its gone through the system

alternatively you can get a spray and a tube that foes down the air vents

 

[172 Exclusive]

The bacteria Grows on the Evaporator.. Mainly due to lack of use.. It can be Killed of by an "antibacterial" spray or by using the A/C more often. To limit the growth you should run the A/C ALL year round..

A/C acts as a dehumidifier and clears that winter morning condensation in double quick time.. and in summer it cools you down.. So run it continually.
You only need to have the system Regassed if the system stops working, or there a significant loss of cooling performance.. The temperature of the Cool air in the middle of the centre vent should be around 4-8 degrees celsius, no lower..

 

[quickshift]

just got the same problem on my 10 month old 182 but have been running my air con all year so u lot dont reckon its a major problem then its going in for its first service on friday should i just get ren o to have a look ?????