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AirCon Smells

C

chesjak

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Location
south coast
Car
Accord I-ctdi
Hi

When I have had the aircon on for a while and then tun it off, it tends to start smelling. I always keep the pollen filter clean and have regularly used aircon cleaning products both direct into the air intake and also the canister type that discharges in the car and recirculates.

It seems to me that these products are not doing what they say they do but I can find nothing else to sort this problem.

Has anyone got any ideas as to how to overcome this.

I have contemplated taking the fan unit apart and cleaning it but it seems to be quite a major job and I don't want to if I can avoid it.

The products I have used are the Comma discharge in the cabin and the Dewco straight into the air intake.

Can anyone help please.

regards
 
Ive tried the comma one before on a previous car and its was pants, in the end I used http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORTE-AIR-CONDITIONER-TREATMENT-BARGAIN-PRICE-/300546080377?_trksid=p4340.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D280457151856%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D9005692204228364355 and it worked.

Try and use the auto funtcion more often as since having my accord I use it alot and I havent had any smells since owning the car the past four years.
 
Yep i tried the comma one and it made it smell worse.I haven't tried Andy's link but it looks good if rated by Andy.
 
i used the comma one before and it worked for a couple of months, that was when i used to have the ac off. Now it still smells if i turn the ac off, so i just have the ac running all the time now.

Forte make good stuff so i'd expect that stuff to be good
 
I heard that and I mean no offence by it but, the smell comes from people actually being in the car, body sweat and so forth, my mechanic reckons spraying some perfume onto the pollen filter before fitting, or a smelling stick of some type, nothing too strong or over powering, but it helps. I turn my air-con on and the now smells of a 2quid air freshener, vanillaroma to be exact so happy days :D
 
K :unsure:
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for the input.

Pepster, what you say makes a lot of sense so I will give it a go.

Have you ever done this and if so are there any instruction manuals/guides out there that you know of to help. It would be useful

Just exactly where is the evaporator

In the short term I might try some of that Forte treatment Monks suggested although it seem expensive conpared to the others doesn't it. But hey! if it works!

many thanks again
 
I've found the same thing as everyone else here; AC smells straight after switch off if it's not been used for a day or so. The only solution is to use it regularly.

I'm certain however that this is a design fault, and maybe one that's more common on Japanese cars. A couple of years ago I ran a 2006 Toyota Prius and its AC did the same - the smell was even worse actually - and after researching some threads in the US, where posters took apart the AC system, they found a part of the evaporator that collected water thus causing the problem. If I recall, a solution was found by drilling a small hole to let the water out, but I think you'd have to be pretty determined to do that to your Accord.

By contrast, my wife's 2004 Audi A3 has no problem, neither did her 2000 VW Golf, and my previous car, a 2002 VW Bora, was the same - no smells at all however much you used the AC. If it was switched off a lot on the Bora it would take longer to get cold but that's it. Will just have to live with it in the Accord I guess.
 
Hi

Thanks pepester for the info.

benw123 - I have no doubt that it is could be a design fault. Like a number of faults with this car I have found. I think that Honda made a lot of compromises when they designed this Mk 7 model.

Like your other cars, I have had a number of mercedes over the years and none of them have smelt either.

Over the weekend, I took the pollen filter out and although I renew it regularly, I vacumed it off and then sprayed some Autoglym odour eliminator on it and allowed it to dry befor I put it back.

So far the result has been positive, a lot better than using these so called air conditioning cleaners. No doubt in the long run I will have to do what pespster suggests though.

Regards
Chesjak
 
chesjak said:
Over the weekend, I took the pollen filter out and although I renew it regularly, I vacumed it off and then sprayed some Autoglym odour eliminator on it and allowed it to dry befor I put it back.

So far the result has been positive, a lot better than using these so called air conditioning cleaners. No doubt in the long run I will have to do what pespster suggests though.
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That's a great idea - and quick to do as well. You could easily do this when cleaning the interior of the car.
 
I was wondering this myself.
 
Thats said it and put this into prospective ;)
 
Great link that ... cheers matey...
 
benw123 said:
I've found the same thing as everyone else here; AC smells straight after switch off if it's not been used for a day or so. The only solution is to use it regularly.

I'm certain however that this is a design fault, and maybe one that's more common on Japanese cars. A couple of years ago I ran a 2006 Toyota Prius and its AC did the same - the smell was even worse actually - and after researching some threads in the US, where posters took apart the AC system, they found a part of the evaporator that collected water thus causing the problem. If I recall, a solution was found by drilling a small hole to let the water out, but I think you'd have to be pretty determined to do that to your Accord.

By contrast, my wife's 2004 Audi A3 has no problem, neither did her 2000 VW Golf, and my previous car, a 2002 VW Bora, was the same - no smells at all however much you used the AC. If it was switched off a lot on the Bora it would take longer to get cold but that's it. Will just have to live with it in the Accord I guess.
Click to expand...

Ben, my A4 has no smells either, however my 7th gen was a different story, couldn't get rid of the smell no matter what I tried. :blush:
 
Read the whole site... new some of it, but it was handy for some of the checks and techniques.
 
When you think about it...

How can can a Japanese product have a badly design AC system?

Even their shanty towns have fricking AC!!!

If you have ever been there you will know that they live for AC. Their equivalent of Dixons/Currys/Comet have entire floors dedicated to the sales of AC and bogs that sluice your backside and blow dry.

Central and Southern Japanese homes/businesses do not have central heating. It is all AC. 40 degrees and 89% humidity....

Poorly designed AC? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry, didn't mean to rant, but I would have my balls removed with a chopstick if I accused the missus' home nation of such a thing :D
 
I must admit I did not know there were a sight glass nor what it's for. Here is what I googled:

Taken from www.procarcare.com
The sight glass is normally located in the head of the receiver/drier. The receiver/drier is not hard to locate. It's a large metal cylinder that looks something like a fire extinguisher. Sometimes the sight glass is located in one of the metal lines leading from the top of the receiver/drier. Once you've found it, wipe it clean and proceed as follows:
With the engine and the air conditioning system running, look for the flow of refrigerant through the sight glass. If the air conditioner is working properly, you'll be able to see a continuous flow of clear refrigerant through the sight glass, with perhaps an occasional bubble at very high temperatures.
Cycle the air conditioner on and off to make sure what you are seeing is clear refrigerant. Since the refrigerant is clear, it is possible to mistake a completely discharged system for one that is fully charged. Turn the system off and watch the sight glass. If there is refrigerant in the system, you'll see bubbles during the off cycle. If you observe no bubbles when the system is running, and the airflow from the unit in the vehicle is delivering cold air, everything is OK.
If you observe bubbles in the sight glass while the system is operating, the system is low on refrigerant. Have it checked by a professional.
Oil streaks in the sight glass are an indication of trouble. Most of the time, if you see oil in the sight glass, it will appear as a series of streaks, although occasionally it may be a solid stream of oil. In either case, it means that part of the charge has been lost.
Click to expand...

Someone like me may find it useful.
 
nice find...ours is tucked behind the driver's headlight.
 
Pepster said:
All the Japanese aircon doubters wont know the evaporators on 99 % Japanese cars are of a better design than the German counterparts and they specifically are designed to combat bacteria growth.

ask any aircon specialist.
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Sorry CJ, didn't expect my comments would stir this thread! I was quoting my experiences. The Accord's AC seems have issues but this pales into insignificance next to the Prius, which, according to the many threads and research on US forums, was deemed poorly designed. Sure, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but again, my experiences include running two Japanese cars with the same issue, and a number of European cars (even the Ford Puma and Focus I had were okay) which didn't.
 
:lol: Don't worry Ben I was only have a play. It is all in good nature trust me! :D

And the T word not to be mentioned here ;).

Prius or Pious? Hateful things they are. Almost as bad as the G-flipping-Whiz :lol:
 
Dan Robinson said:
:lol: Don't worry Ben I was only have a play. It is all in good nature trust me! :D

And the T word not to be mentioned here ;).

Prius or Pious? Hateful things they are. Almost as bad as the G-flipping-Whiz :lol:
Click to expand...
Good man! :D The Prius was actually one of the best cars I owned (bar its AC, of course!). I only sold it because I was about to lose a shed-load of cash in depreciation when the new model arrived.

Jeremy Clarkson's review is legendary but the Prius topped the JD Power survey three years in a row which says a lot about the car. Ultra-reliable, incredibly easy to drive, £15 annual road tax, 55-57mpg in and out of London using petrol and perfect for families because it's cavernous inside. The T-Spirit version is loaded with kit too, like reversing camera and self-parking.

Its only real failure was being marketed as a "green" car. If Toyota had just sold it on the promise it was cheap to run and easy to live with, the same reason I bought one, they'd have attracted a wider audience I think.
 
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