I have noticed a rather unpleasant smell which seems to be coming from my car's vents when the aircon is operating, which has been neccesary more than usual in the last few weeks. although I use the aircon all year and have not noticed it before.
The car is a Peugeot 406 Estate with a HDI engine, it is fitted with an electronic climate control in place of usual controls for the heater ( which I still haven't worked out ) and is only a year old.
Before I go and play hell with the dealer, I would appreciate your experiences of similar problems and any ideas as to what the cause may be and what is required to rectify it.
Many Thanks
Stan
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I had a similar problem with my Espace which I cured with a product called Aircofresh by Wynns. It is an aerosol with a long flexible probe that you feed into the system via the recirculating air intake with the system running. This sprays a disinfectant/deodoriser into the system killing the bugs that live in the condensate. I was so impressed with it I offer it to my customers during a service. David Norton at AutoAir may have an alternative.
www.autoair.co.uk
regards
Andrew
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The stench is from bacteria which has gathered in condensation left in the a/c system vent tubes. Whenever you switch your a/c to maximum cold to lubricate the system seals (at least once a week) you should subsequently switch to maximum heat to dry the condensation out of the tubes. Then you will not have any trouble or any nasty smells.
HJ
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It makes good sense to do that each week, but how long should the system be left in each setting to acheive the desired effect whilst the driver shivers/sweats in his car?
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Andrew is correct in that you can get aerosols for de-odourizing the evaporator. Success can depend on how close you can get the nozzle to the evaporator, and you can always remove the blower motor and/or blower resistor pack. However, as it is still fairly new, it's worth checking, or getting the garage to check, the evaporator drain tube, to make sure it isn't blocked, allowing all the condensation to swill around under the dash.
If you speak to your dealer there may well be a TSB out for this (there usually is) and they may well offer to solve the smell by deodorising it for you, just don't pay anything until the drain has been checked, otherwise it will come back in no time.
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See Honest John's FAQs which, in the aircon section, mention leaving the aircon selected at all times; not at max cooling or even any cooling (I assume) but just to keep the compressor turning.
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Just noticed in this months IMI magazine Vauxhall use Aircofresh on their Air con service schedule!
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See the previous posts regarding the smell,
Think of climate control as being more like household central heating, where
you set a temperature and then the boiler turns on/off to control it.
Normal car heating (and non-climate control a/c) is more like trying to
control the temperature in your living room by having a heater running
all the time and then manually opening and closing the windows to adjust
the temperature.
Most of the time on my 306 I drive around with the air con set in the middle
"white" sector marked 21 and the aircon turned on.
The compressor will then turn on/off to maintain the correct cabin temperature.
The only things you need to remember are:
Air con is turned on automatically when you select demist or demist/cabin.
(but it won't turn off automatically when you deselect)
It's also turned on automatically if the cabin temperature is >30deg C
The air con won't come on automatically if its well below freezing outside.
/John
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The other issue with running your aircon continuously is that it can have a significant effect on your fuel consumption (between 5% and 10%), with a corresponding drop in performance/ engine response.
I haven't had any smelly problems with my 2 Litre Focus, but the performance drain is quite noticeable.
Simon
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Simon Ridgers wrote:
>
> The other issue with running your aircon continuously is that
> it can have a significant effect on your fuel consumption
> (between 5% and 10%), with a corresponding drop in
> performance/ engine response.
>
> I haven't had any smelly problems with my 2 Litre Focus, but
> the performance drain is quite noticeable.
If you have a smallish (<2.0) petrol engine then yes - the performance
will suffer - but I've got a 1.9 turbodiesel so no problem.
(example: 1.6 405 w/aircon = dog, 1.9TD 405 w/aircon no probs)
As far as the overall fuel consumption is concerned, at high speeds
on the open road/dual carriageway/motorway, the effect of a/c on
fuel consumption is comparable to that of driving around with
windows and sunroof open. - a car without open windows is more
slippery through the air than one with.
You should also bear in mind that with climate control the compressor
is only turned on when required - so at lower ambient temperatures
the compressor is hardly ever on.
/John
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With Climate Control the compressor runs all the time, unless you hit the 'econ' button. The control unit then just adds heat over the top to obtain the correct temperature. This way, you still get the dehumidifying/cleaning benefits of a/c, even though you may not want the cooling benefits. If it's below a certain temp outside, then the system may well turn the a/c off, but purely to protect the components from damage due to cold.
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I would expect the consumption to be slightly higher with cruise control engaged because whereas this maintains a constant speed, on "manual" most drivers take advantage of gradients by letting the speed drop off by (say) 5 mph as they get to the last bit going up hill by easing off the gas.
They then gain a little speed going down (subject to speed limits and traffic) by maintaining the setting gas but taking advantage of gravity.
The technique does not work in Norfolk.
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I do not see where people get this alleged large increase in fuel cons. On a recent long and VERY boring journey we experimented in a Vectra on level road @ constant speed with fs passenger monitoring the instant fuel con display with the a/c full on and off. Did not see a significant difference about 1-2% tops. Also to try and eliminate the driver variable repeated with the cruise control set and got a similar figure.
Actually with the cruise set it was surprising just how much the fuel cons varied with even very small changes in gradient.
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You probably wouldn't see much difference on a modern system, especially as the vectra has a variable displacement compressor. Just like the alternator only uses power from the engine when electrical power is needed, same with the a/c. It might be different in florida, but not here.
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