aircon, smell, ibiza fr...help!

[lukester85]

Hi.... Im stuck and i dont mind admitting it!


I get a minging smell when using the blowers.... its not damp or musky, doesnt smell like something has died under the car either - just horrible in its own little way. Its so bad i have to open the windows when having the blowers on, which defeats the object of having having the blowers on. the smell stays at all speeds of the fans and car, and doesnt get any less smelly over time or distance. Ive been flicking through the forum and someone has said the pollen filter so im going to check that in a minute..... but any other ideas?



And staying with the blowers - I dont understand how to turn my air con on to use the different settings, let me explain:
I can make the air come out hot or cold, aimed at the window or the floor etc, i also have some extra buttons that i havnt had on previous cars (air con?) One is called "auto" one is a funny circular arrow.... what do they do?

Thanks for any advice you can give

luke

 

[Aimez]

arrow mean re-circulates the air, like if there is a bad smell outside the car (the irony!) Auto is apparently to save fuel ie doesn't use so much air con. Dunno about the smell must be pollen filter get a new one if it looks manky (you know where is is I assume?)

 

[Neo]

You have the CLIMATRONIC a/c system:

The three arrows should be self explanatory...

The circular arrow closes off the cabin from the outside (handy if you have a car in front belching out smoke)...

ECON switches the a/c compressor on/off (economy)...
A/C is only on when ECON is off

The windscreen button also switches the aircon on (ECON off) to demist the screen quicker...

AUTO holds the cabin temperature at the temp you set with the right knob...
AUTO can also work with air-con (ECON) on or off...

Left knob is fan speed.

 

[Neo]

Oh, and if it`s a mouldy smell coming through when you turn the a/c on, it could be mildew/mould built up in the evaporator. It happens on all a/c systems to a certain degree.

You could try running the engine for a good few minutes with ECON off, and temp set to HI, this should help to dry out some water in the evaporator case, since it`s this water that causes mould to grow. Make sure recirculate is off too.

I think you can also get some freshener/disinfectant to kill off any bacteria in the ducting (I`m sure I saw some in halfords a while ago).

 

[lukester85]

thanks

thanks for the explanations on the buttons! why cant they print the instructions like how you put it neo!

Im going to check the pollen thing this afternoon, as suggested by aimez... no i dunno where it is but have seen a post somewhere on here with instructions, and i have the car manual about somewhere.... Then ill take it for a drive with the blowers on hot but with the a/c off and see if that burns some smell away - cheers neo.... ill let ya know how i get on

 

[FR3000]

Might be worth getting it serviced by an air-con specialist, I had mine done at 4 1/2 years. They drained the system and weighed the refrigerant to work out how much it needed topping up by (some can lose up to 30% depending on the car, mine had only lost 9%). They then flushed the system with an anti-bacterial agent and added UV dye at the refill stage (allows for tracing of any leaks should they occur in future). Cost about £44 but was worth doing.

 

[Arnoldo]

Were you get this done FR3000?

 

[Neo]

Might be worth getting it serviced by an air-con specialist, I had mine done at 4 1/2 years. They drained the system and weighed the refrigerant to work out how much it needed topping up by (some can lose up to 30% depending on the car, mine had only lost 9%). They then flushed the system with an anti-bacterial agent and added UV dye at the refill stage (allows for tracing of any leaks should they occur in future). Cost about £44 but was worth doing.

Good suggestion, worth doing if the pollen filter turns out to be fine Luke and/or if running it on HI with ECON off does nothing. (Try the free stuff first!)

I believe the filter is under the dash on the passenger side (although I`ve never replaced onemyself).

And I`ve been warned about it bieng full of leaves and debris so when you remove it... watch your eyes!

 

[Neo]

Might be worth getting it serviced by an air-con specialist, Cost about £44 but was worth doing.

SPECIALIST being the key word, I know that some mechs in kwik-fit and halfords type places don`t know what they`re doing with a/c:
Once had mine "re-gassed" by kwik-fit, then not long after by a VAG specialist... they found only half the 550 grams of gas required... and it had`nt leaked out anywhere!
Kwik-fit charged me £47 and the specialist £70... you get what you pay for!

Oh, and Grammer error LOL
You mean Grammar error?

Sorry to be picky but that tickled me!

 

[ross27]

I had that funky smell in my Mk2 Leon when i first got it last year.
Bought one of these, and it has been brand new since:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kleen-Air-Air...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item35a1be21a4


Try it before forking out more money!
Basically, you sit it in the back seat, turn on the fans up to full speed, and turn on re-circ. Set the can and then leave it to go off for about 10mins, then just let it circ for a little bit longer.

 

[FR3000]

Good suggestion, worth doing if the pollen filter turns out to be fine Luke and/or if running it on HI with ECON off does nothing. (Try the free stuff first!)

I believe the filter is under the dash on the passenger side (although I`ve never replaced onemyself).

And I`ve been warned about it bieng full of leaves and debris so when you remove it... watch your eyes!

Yes it is - also if you have a birch tree outside your house like I do it'll fill your foot well with seeds, leaves etc so make sure you got the Vacuum handy

 

[FR3000]

Were you get this done FR3000?

I'm in the Teeside area - the place I used was T H Flory in Middlesbrough who are an Auto-electrics and Air-con specialist. I know a few others who have taken their cars in to this place as well and I would recommend them since they know what they are doing.

 

[FR3000]

SPECIALIST being the key word, I know that some mechs in kwik-fit and halfords type places don`t know what they`re doing with a/c:
Once had mine "re-gassed" by kwik-fit, then not long after by a VAG specialist... they found only half the 550 grams of gas required... and it had`nt leaked out anywhere!
Kwik-fit charged me £47 and the specialist £70... you get what you pay for!

Oh, and Grammer error LOL
You mean Grammar error?

Sorry to be picky but that tickled me!

Well spotted

 

[Neo]

Yes it is - also if you have a birch tree outside your house like I do it'll fill your foot well with seeds, leaves etc so make sure you got the Vacuum handy

Oh right LOL! Well at least it`s done now! Has it made a difference?

Well spotted

 

[FR3000]

Been about a year since the filter was replaced so it's about due another one to stop it choking the system.

All runs fine now although I got it done more just for maintenance; the refrigerant helps to lubricate the seals in the pump so running with it low could eventually knacker the pump which is not cheap.

The vents gave off a smell like cheap air freshener for about a fortnight which is just the anti-bacterial stuff.

Used to occasionally get a slight stale smell when switching from re-circ to econ modes which now seems to have gone since it was serviced (but will know for definite in the warmer weather).