Smell

cary14, Feb 14, 5:56pm
We get a stale smell in our car when using the air con. Smells like its prob stale water from the cleaner bottle.How can we freshen it up? Car 3 years old.
mechnificent, Feb 14, 6:01pm
There's probably an air filter in the air con somewhere, called a cabin filter. You could change that. The cooling radiator in the air con gets condensation on it and a film of dust and it's that that smells. In the olden days, we used to close the car up and turn the heater onto full blast and leave the motor running till the car got roasting hot inside and we used to leave them running till the dust and crud had been dried up and hopefully destunk.

They probably have some spray or something now though for cleaning them. Someone will have some tricky way of drying and cleaning it. It is what your problem is though.
monsieurl, Feb 14, 6:51pm
If it were the Cabin filter it would smell with the fan on and or the heater going not just the AC, as the evaporator is always in the footwell usually after the filter, if the cabin filter hasn't been replaced in a while it would be an idea to replace it/them anyway but usually most smells are because of mold or mildew in the AC unit, you can buy specific products for this but an 80/20 water and bleach lightly sprayed through your intake vents with fans on low-med to not spray all over your interior (remove cabin filter/s) will do the job fine.
mechnificent, Feb 14, 7:03pm
Yeah I thought we had a spray now. Bleach would work but it might not be good for the aluminum.
mechnificent, Feb 14, 7:04pm
Repco would sell the spray ?
cary14, Feb 14, 7:15pm
Thanks for those ideas.
monsieurl, Feb 14, 7:34pm
A diluted solution won't hurt, actually i'm 99% sure full strength bleach wouldn't corrode aluminum, maybe stain it but that's no biggie in this case.

The actual spray product would be the ideal solution!
franc123, Feb 14, 7:43pm
Just get the specific product, there are a few of them on the market and are obviously supplied in an aerosol which can be used to apply it through small holes at tricky angles. Finding somewhere to actually apply it is the hard part, its usually done through the ventilation hose from the heater box that is used to cool the blower motor.
mechnificent, Feb 14, 7:47pm
I always understood that it was the dust holding the condensation that was the probllem. hence the super drying and full fan blast and an air hose or a few bashes to loosen the dust.
mechnificent, Feb 14, 7:48pm
When they are clean the condensation drops off and drains.
gammelvind, Feb 14, 8:06pm
Just a comment maybe you don't use the air con enough, this happens with my mothers as she has been told by well meaning friends that "it uses more fuel" . Mine on the other hand is never turned off, cool in summer and as a dehumidifier in winter, I just adjust the temperature.
You can get a little spray pump bottle from the likes of supercheap that you can squirt into the vents.
socram, Feb 15, 8:27am
I have always been a bit confused by the mechanics of this, but if it saps power, then logically, switch the aircon on when going down hill, foot off the throttle, and it should also help the braking. Win-win.
biddy6, Feb 15, 11:50am
Wurth has a air/con freshener in a can.
jessebird, Feb 15, 12:07pm
when i turn mine on i smell stale cig, proberly last owner, i don,t smoke and can,t get rid.
muzz67, Feb 15, 3:35pm
tried the proper cans, no effect. Someone said to try flyspray(!?) and it worked a treat.
gsimpson, Jun 17, 8:15pm
I haven't noticed any difference in the fuel consumption on the computer with it on or off. It is better to use the AC rather than open a window that increases the air resistance of the car. (unless stuck in traffic, something that's not a problem here)