How to Eliminate Odours From Your Vehicle's AC
by Debra Morgan
Sometimes, you turn on the air conditioner in your vehicle, and you may notice an odour coming out of the vents. This can be off-putting and uncomfortable. Luckily, there are ways to reduce car AC odours. Take a look at these tips.
1. Run the Fan
To reduce odours in your air conditioning system, start by running your fan. After you finish driving your vehicle for the day, turn off the air conditioner but continue to let the fan run on air. When you select these options, the components of your AC shouldn't be actively working, but the fan is making sure that air is circulating through the system.
Sometimes, this can help to clear out certain odours. For best results, roll down your window when you are trying this option.
2. Park in the Sun
Often, the odours are coming from moisture or mildew that has built up in your AC system. Evaporation can help to eliminate some of these odours. If possible, put your car into a warm, sunny spot. That should help to reduce moisture levels inside the vehicle as well as around the engine or AC components.
3. Check for Dripping Water
When you have the fan running that should also help to evaporate some of the moisture in the system. Generally, this excess moisture is going to run out of your car and onto the ground. When you finish this experiment, you may want to move your vehicle and check underneath it for dripping water.
Smell any liquids you find. If you smell something sweet, you may be losing coolant rather than water. However, if you don't see any water under your vehicle, a drain line may be clogged and that could be contributing to your odour issues. Contact a repair person to help you replace the line.
4. Replace AC Filters
Your AC filters are designed to catch all kinds of dirt and debris, and over time, those items can start to produce odours. Additionally, if your filter is too full, it will stop filtering out unwanted elements and that can also lead to odours. Replace your filter or ask a repair professional to help you.
5. Consider Deodorisers
If you have worked through all the above options and consulted a professional but you still have odours, your AC may simply be recirculating odours from the rest of your vehicle. Consider washing the interior of your car carefully and try using some deodorisers such as upholstery sprays or deodorisers that hang from the rearview mirror.
If these steps don't work, then talk with a professional automotive air conditioning service like Balyang Motors to diagnose and fix the problem for you.
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About Me
I've been running an auto service shop for the past 30 years. The trends in cars have changed a lot over that time, and cars are becoming a lot more complicated and automated. People can't fix many items on their own cars any more as you need a computer to diagnose most issues. People use their cars a lot more these days as we live further away from workplaces and schools so it's important for me to be able to get cars back quickly. I have had to keep learning about how the new cars run and I keep a lot of hints on this site so you can all learn the things you can do to make your cars run better.