My MCS has 27K miles on it. we have had it for just about a year. everytime I get in it and turn on the air it reaks. smells like dirty socks. It really bothers my pregnant wife. seems so go away after a few minutes. but next time it starts up it starts again. I wounder if the condenser for the ac is not draining properly and is causing mildew in the AC.

 

No stink at 52k (or before). Mmmmmmmm... got fried critters under the hood?

Dogspeed.

 

i get the same thing when i first turn it on...............i have 13k on my

doh!

 

It's just stale AC smell. Before shutting down the car, simply turn off the compressor while letting the fan go for a minute or so. That should do the trick. Do you live in a humid climate? That doesn't help if you do.

My $0.02.

 

i live here in houston texas so it does get humid............



ant

 

Yukkie HVAC stinkie? Try changing your Microfilter, or better yet, inspect and remove random critters that have taken residence!

 

Using the vent (a/c and recirc buttons off) periodically during times where you have the windows open helps to eliminate the smell. Also, using the fresh air while having the a/c on during those not-so-hot days helps.

 

My service advisor also advised spraying some lysol into the passenger side footwell and let it get sucked into the a/c system to clean it out.

 

>does your mini stink?

I only use AC once in a while to circulate the compressor and the lines
to keep them in working order. :smile: it does not stink when I do cycle it though once a month or so.

It does help to have the air come in from the outside, and then having
the blower turned on with AC off before you park the car overnite.

 

i told them about it on my service and they changed the filter but it still stinks when i first crank it up...


ant

 

I have the same thing with my Honda, and have noticed it in other cars. It's the AC smell. It seems to happen only for a few minutes after the ac get's turned off, or when you just turn it on in the morning. For those of us with good noses, it's really nasty! I hate to say it, but I tend to keep the ac on for longer than needed, just to avoid the stench. YUK. My mini will be cabrio. I think this will be the best solution yet!!!

 

I had this with my old car and two things worked:

(1) The dealer should be able to put an "AC Deodorizer" in your AC. The first time I had this problem on my A4 the Audi dealership did that and it fixed the problem. It did come back eventually, though, so...

(2) Run your AC on the hottest heat for about 10 minutes as you drive around (might help to open the windows ). The smell is the result of a mildew that grows in the AC system and this burns it off. No kidding, it really works.

-mike

 

AWESOME! :smile: I will try the heat thing (tonight). Then hopefully save on ac use. It really is a nasty smell. The mildew probably makes allergies worse, for those of us that have them...

 

Good luck, and let me know if it works. Yeah it could definitely add to allergies and I hate the smell too - it can ruin the driving experience.

-mike

 

I had a friend smoke in the car with the AC on recirc. The car then had the stink issue mainly old smoke. I pulled the microfilter and squirted simple green on it and rinsed both sides under running water. It worked but I wouldn't recommend this as a good idea. I was desperate to find the source of the odor. The filter had 6000 mi. use and looked dirty. The sink trick made it bright white again. I let it air dry, took all afternoon in the sun. I've read there is activated charcoal between the folds but I could not see or feel anything.

Cheesy but the dealer is 300 mi. away. I didn't want to mail order the thing for a test.

 

I know what your saying, been there, done that. Don't know how to cure it but, it 's not imagination.
Charles

 

Not a problem,but I don't use the A/C much,mostly in winter to help clear the windows with the heat on high.

 

When I was working as a dealer tech, this was a common problem in cars I serviced. As the AC runs, the evaporator pulls moisture, and with it, dust particles, mold spores etc. from the air passing over it. When the car is turned off, the moisture tends to be retained in the evaporator housing, allowing the mold/mildew spores to germinate and grow in between the fins of the evap core. As the mold grows, it produces and releases more spores. The next time the car is started, that warm, wet, musty, spore-laden air is expelled into the passenger compartment. Yuk!

The mirco-air filter on the MINI helps greatly reduce the amount of particulate materials entering the evaporator to feed this cycle, but cannot entirely eliminate it.

A clogged evaporator drain tube (common on older cars due to leaf debris, etc.) can also greatly aggravate the situation, as it traps a puddle of water inside the evaporator housing. In bad cases, this sometimes results in water backing up until it leaks out into the passenger compartment, soaking the carpet in the front-seat footwell area.

I used a product called "Frigi-Fresh" to help clear stale AC odor. It consisted of a small aerosol can of deodorizer/disinfectant with a ~12" long tube fitted to the nozzle. the last 4" of the tube was perforated with rows of spray holes. The tube was fed into the AC system just in front of the upstream side of the evaporator, and while the AC was running with the fan on low, the product was sprayed across the face of the evaporator. It was effective, but the fix was short-lived. Usually, the odor would begin to return within a few weeks.

It would probably be fairly easy to rig up a homebrew version of this type of disinfectant process. On one of my own cars, I drilled a small hole in the upstream side of the evaporator housing and plugged it with a screw. When the AC system needed a spray treatment, all I needed to do was pull the screw and insert the spray tube, and it was positioned perfectly to disinfect the system-- much easier than trying to dismantle ductwork to gain access! :smile:

 

Do your wife and yourself a favor and get a can of OZIUM air deoderizer. You can find this just about anywhere.

I've had this problem in previous cars, and this always did the trick. I would run the a/c without recirculate on my prior car and then spray the Ozium in the vents at the base of the windshield. The A/C would draw the OZIUM into the system, and was VERY effective at getting rid of that smell. You could also use A/C with recirculate, and spray the product inside the car, and a/c will do the same thing. Don't sit in the car as you spray the OZIUM as this is strong stuff, but the smell is nice/clean, and I bet you'll be happy with the results.

 

I had the same problem last year with my 2003 MCS. I live in New Orleans - a very humid climate. I bought a can of Frigi Fresh at the local Pepboys. Sprayed it wherever I could think of: the outside intakes, the pass side footwell intake and the intakes on the dash (i think they are intakes - the AC pulled the Frigi fresh foam in at least).

Anyway, it worked! No stinky bad-breath smell since and that's been since last fall.

 

I had a stink in my 2002 S because I think that someone at Miniservice pissed in it. This was after the 10.000 service.
Microfilter.

Had to go and change it again at my cost.

 

Oh, that is Nasty! Are you serious??? And if so, what did you do to **** that guy off? Literally...