Air Con Smell PERSISTENT!

[MondeoMan]

Hi all,

I have a 2001 Ford Mondeo MK3 which I use very heavily (120 miles per day) and I am starting to get some obscure issues, one of which is smelly air con. There is a lot of info online about how to anti-bacterial clean the system and I have tried some of these but to no avail - the smell of dead rats is persistent. I will go into detail....

The issue is this - when the air con is turned on there is no smell. Only after turning the air con off but leaving the fan on do I get the horrid smell which lasts for around 20 minutes each time. This happens both in recirculation mode and external.

My attempted remedies have been - 2 rounds of air con bombing, first with a cheap brand, then with Klima Doktor. On each occasion I had the air con on with the fan on full and the windows shut. After treatment (20mins) I switched the engine off and kept the windows shut overnight to enable further killing of bacterial in the system. On both occasions the smell went away for 2 - 3 days before coming back with full force. I then removed the pollen filter and filled the air intake and all internal vents with Klima Doktor foam (I used a whole can) and left to soak for 15mins. I did this with the air con on and fan on full. Again after 2 - 3 days the smell came back with full force.

So after spending all this time I am no better off and I still have this persistent smell. Is there anything I am doing wrong? For example, as the smell comes after turning air con off, should I be treating the system AFTER turning air con OFF? My guess is that the evaporator is the culprit - would cold / ice prevent the treatment spray from penetrating the bacterial contamination?

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Mike

[bohica2xo]

Well, if it smells like dead rodent... It may actually be one.

I have found dead mice or rats in radiator shrouds, cabin air filters, blower wheels...




.

When you wet the thing down with condensation, then let it warm up - it stinks again. Time for a close inspection of the cabin air side of things. Pull the cabin air filter & start looking in the system with a light & a mirror or an inspection camera. You can buy a USB camera that is under 5mm diameter for under 20 USD. You can look at most of the system without taking anything apart.

[MondeoMan]

OMG foul. A great idea though. I will look into this and update the forum.

Thanks!