musty smell in cabin

[dubourg]

Hi all

Got into my TDI passat yesterday morning and I was greeted with a horrible musty/damp smell. The smell was gone after a 2 hour motorway journey (or I had got used to it!!) and the smell returned for my return trip later that day.

The smell wasn't as strong this morning, but still there.... anyone have any clues to where this smell is comning from?? I've not driven through any deep puddles and all the carpets are dry..

Co-incidently the oil light came on for the first time yesterday (8000miles since last service - oil cost me £17.50 from the local BP.. will go to halfords next time!!)

Thanks

Tom

[Slimbarry]

Is your car fairly new or not?

You can get it from the air con. I think that some how condensation builds up in the ducts and then something grows! You can get the aircon system cleaned out - doesn't have to be a VW dealer there are specialist about.

Hope this helps.

[Quatrelle]

Has your car got a pollen filter? If that has got damp that could also be another possibility.

You could try buying a Dettol (not sure which, I think it's an antibacterial) airfreshener aerosol, putting the aircon on recirc., open a window no more than about half an inch, shut all the doors and spray the canful in - from the outside!! - and leave it running for a while.

As a last resort you could also try spraying some into the car's fresh air intake with the aircon/heater fan running.

[stuart]

Have to agree with above, the smell is bacteria on the AC evaporator, change the pollen filter, and get some antibac for the ac system. These come in sprays or "bombs" that you set off inside the car, if you look at Comma Oils website, they have one on there.

[dubourg]

Thanks guys for your responses. My Passat is 16 months old so I am surprised that the AC has got infected with bacteria..

I'll see how the smell goes the next few days (its seems to be less smelly today!) and investigate pollen filter changes and AC cleaning sprays.

Cheers

Tom

[Quatrelle]

Have you checked that the drain holes in the air intakes aren't blocked (leaves, etc)? On some cars the intakes then back-fill and dribble water into the filter.

[Bazaar]

Has your car got a pollen filter? If that has got damp that could also be another possibility.

You could try buying a Dettol (not sure which, I think it's an antibacterial) airfreshener aerosol, putting the aircon on recirc., open a window no more than about half an inch, shut all the doors and spray the canful in - from the outside!! - and leave it running for a while.

As a last resort you could also try spraying some into the car's fresh air intake with the aircon/heater fan running.

Hi, on my last car (Lexus) it smelled horrible and I was told about a vent behind glove box that I had to take the filter out from, hoover it, spray with Febreeze, put back in, switch air con on full then spray a generous amount of Febreeze into the exeterior vent which was located under the bonnet right between the 2 wipers. It worked a treat.

Your suggestion above is very similar to what I was told to do before on my Lexus.

Now that I have a Passat and it also smells horrible with air con on I plan on doing the same thing.

Can anyone advise where I find the filter and the vent for this car?

Cheers

[james_tiger_woo]

What you ought to be doing with Air Con - if you're not running it all the time - is to, once a week, run it for 10 minutes on full hot, then 10 on full cold to kill bacteria then lubricate it.

That's what I used to do - but I just run my air con all the time which does the trick.

However - if you've got a water leak or damp problem - that's another matter

[Bazaar]

What you ought to be doing with Air Con - if you're not running it all the time - is to, once a week, run it for 10 minutes on full hot, then 10 on full cold to kill bacteria then lubricate it.

That's what I used to do - but I just run my air con all the time which does the trick.

However - if you've got a water leak or damp problem - that's another matter

Yes I would normally but this car is new to me only a couple of weeks ago so how it has been run in the past I dont know.

When you say "lubricate it" what exactly do you mean and how do you go about doing it.

There MUST be an exterior vent, do you know where that is? And the must also be a filter. likewise do you know where that is?

Thanks

[james_tiger_woo]

Yes I would normally but this car is new to me only a couple of weeks ago so how it has been run in the past I dont know.

When you say "lubricate it" what exactly do you mean and how do you go about doing it.

There MUST be an exterior vent, do you know where that is? And the must also be a filter. likewise do you know where that is?

Thanks

The gasses contain lubricants that do this. So I believe.