Smelly Aircon ... anyone else?

I love Shreq dearly but today ... ppeeeeuuuuuuwwwww ...

Turned the aircon on and ... what a smell. Not like anything else. Luckily I had the good lady fiona onboard (we went and had a picnic in the mountains) and she said her baby nissan (pintara) air con smelt the same?????

We tried to describe the smell and the best we could come up with wet "funky" socks. The smell goes away about 10 minutes after the aircon is turned off (and windows down (4/100 aircon)).

This needs a resolution before family counselling is required. Any idea listened too.

Mould and mildew build up in the filters/condenser by the sound (smell) of it.

You need to kill the bacteria in the system that is causing the smell.

Checkout this guy on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrVc_FXrbHY

Im not sure where the intakes are on the Patrol but you get the idea.

Mate I have the solution, have done it plenty of times at work.. Glen 20 air fresher, best bloody thing ever.. Turn your fan on full, next to the AC button is the air recirculate button.. Turn it on and spray some Glen 20 behind the white heater box under the pass side football.. Smell will be gone after a couple of good squirts.. Also check that with the AC on the water is dripping out under the car, this shows the water isn't sitting stagnant inside the box from a blockage

Before deodorising your A/C system I would make sure that the drain tube for the A/C is not blocked and your heater core is not leaking.

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Originally Posted by Plasnart

Yeah mine smells musty too. Not as bad as yours Twisty but thanks for raising the issue. Think I read somewhere ages ago how to remove and clean the filters but forgotten now. Think it was down under the passenger footwell somewhere?

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You can fit filters to your A/C system but I don't think that will help with the musty smell.

I got a kit from NIZZBITS.

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Originally Posted by Plasnart

What sort of kit was that Yendor? A filter kit or something?

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They are a pollen filter.

My wife suffers from hay fever and she believes the filters help.

Plasnart I found some pictures for you.

http://www.patrol-gr.net/trucs21.php

The steering wheel is on the wrong side but you get the idea.

The kit from NIZZBITS comes with fitting instructions, takes about 10 minutes to fit and there is some cutting of the plastic A/C box required.

The kit is for the GUs

Thanks everyone :) Lady fiona HATES glen20 (bugga) ... I'll check the drain and heater.

But if that doesn't fix it then fiona will have to live with glen for a while. :thumbup:

edit ... glen20 has helped and the smell is gone. Had the aircon outlet venting from the dash and sprayed in the foot wells. Smell is gone instantly (of course) and has not (yet) returned.

If there is no water draining onto the ground after using the A/C for a bit it is puddling in the vent and growing nasties.

Has the smell come back yet ?.
It's now approx 2 1/2 mths since last post.

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Originally Posted by Robo

Has the smell come back yet ?.
It's now approx 2 1/2 mths since last post.

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Nope. Aircon is still good.

I've used Gen20 in the Golf GTI with good results. I need to give it another session and remove the cabin filter, giving it a good dose on recirc as well as fresh.

So far the Patrol has not been affected with bacteria. Dust is another story...... I have installed the cabin filters, but they do nothing for the rear aircon. The rear ducts filled with dust on an outback trip even though I didn't turn it on at all. I was showing a Patrol owner who did not have the rear setup how it works, and when I turned it on we both got covered in a shower of red.

was talking with air-con guy about servicing and he mentioned something available to kill smell.
sorry but he was giving me the impression of being a rip-off artist so I simply left. can't elaborate.
glen 20 worked just fine

I use the can from the ambi pur crap and just give it a few squirts on recirculate it gets rid of the stench.

There is a proper cleaner available. I used to use it at a ford dealership I worked at. Can't remember what it is called but similar to glen 20 ingredients, just a lot stronger. Would take your breath away. Worked great but, instant results and no after smell (like glen 20).

Good old glen 20 works fine too.

mine only smells when I fart still trying to work out why smell normaly goes after 5 mins

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Originally Posted by macca86

mine only smells when I fart still trying to work out why smell normaly goes after 5 mins

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5 minutes?? Poor form .... my kids are still gagging after 20 or 30 klms!!!! lmfao

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Originally Posted by Bigrig

5 minutes?? Poor form .... my kids are still gagging after 20 or 30 klms!!!! lmfao

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with the window down is a fair effort no fancy electric windows for me with a lock to stop people venting haha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macca86

with the window down is a fair effort no fancy electric windows for me with a lock to stop people venting haha

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Love my Ti !!!!!! lmfao

oh dear ... smelly aircon thread reduced to fart jokes ... :eck05::clapping:

sorry couldn't resist must be the after work beers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macca86

sorry couldn't resist must be the after work beers

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don't be sorry macca, fart jokes are my favourite ... anyway, you were being encouraged as well ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bigrig

5 minutes?? Poor form .... my kids are still gagging after 20 or 30 klms!!!! lmfao

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mods posting off topic ... :bowdown: gotta luv that ...

ps. poor kids ...

guys the stuff you need to fix it properly is coil cleaner. Go to an aircon place like heatcraft or actrol and ask for it there.

I bet you find you don't get the smell when you don't recirculate the air. And yeah, wet air filters in the system do get stinkey - run it with outside air coming in fairly regularly to give it a dry out once you fix it - to hopefully stop it happening again.

Mine is pretty smelly too. I gave it a good dose of Glen 20 with both AC recirculate on and off.

I think I also need to change the cabin pollen filter but after removing my glovebox the closest thing I could see was a black sponge type filter on the left but I don't think that's the one. Any ideas where the pollen filter is?

Also, my AC does not appear to be draining any water out of the car after having the aircon on for 20 mins on a hot day. Where do I start with fixing this?

It's an '89 model Maverick DA (Patrol GQ) if that helps.

Cheers,
Mav

If the condensation is not draining, it will stink.
You need to find the drain tube and clear it, probably full of fluff and dust etc.
Cheers, the ferret.

Someone mention after work beers

? are there air-con filters on a 97 GU Ti and if so where are they regards Alex

wurth make a product called sabesto air conditioner and heating disinfection spray
i use it once a year
got from repco i think was about $15.00

Was reading this in memory of my troll having that same real funky smelly sock smell. Turns out my a/c evap was leaking and the smell was the gas. Replaced the evap, re gassed it and all good.

Glen 20.
Glen 20.
works and easy to do.
spray some into open recycle door and presto