bad smelling AC

[raraku]

hi everybody,

has anybody else experienced an issue with their octavia where the AC has a bad smell coming from it? I've got a 2016 MK3 Octavia and it's been pretty good up until about 2-3 weeks ago (just after its 1st service actually) and the AC now isn't smelling fantastic

In previous cars I've done the trick of putting some Glen20 through the system which appears to kill any bad bacteria which is in the system, thinking about doing the same in the Octavia

[Rubbadub]

How long have you had it? Changing the pollen filter seems to be a common solution for this problem.

[Umai Naa!!]

As per above, disinfectant bomb THEN change the filter.

[raraku]

How long have you had it? Changing the pollen filter seems to be a common solution for this problem.

Had it since new - May 2016 is when I got it.

I checked Skodaparts.co.nz and see there are two cabin filters for the MK3 - Parts for air conditioning, heating|Skoda model Octavia 3 - Å kodaParts Ltd any clues which one?

[Umai Naa!!]

FYI genuine from the dealer is cheaper.

Always get the carbon-activated one.

[Undecided]

My ex gf had the neighbor's cat piss on top of her bonnet a few times where the vents are on the old Golfs and the smell that came from turning the AC on.... Gewd Lawd!! Luckily that didn't last long. The situation that is, that stench is forever.

[Spinifex]

I had the same issue - bad AC smell and the response from the dealer at it's first service (15k) was "your pollen filter is filthy & needs replacing, we also recommend a disinfectant bomb"

Was more expensive than I thought I should pay, for a car that was only 6months old, but Skoda Aus refused to treat it as a warranty claim as it's a filter, which isn't covered.

I don't park under dirty trees, I haven't been rallying in the car, and it's parked in a lockup garage at night, and I don't live in Beijing with the world's worst air pollution. I have NO idea how or why the filter got so bad.

My only thought is that the air-intake into the cabin isn't designed very well to deflect any external dirt sources, so EVERY particle ends up in the filter?

The ONLY thing I'm really not happy about with my car.

[Umai Naa!!]

Pollen filter is a maintenance item.

Only way it'd ever be replaced under warranty is if it had been damaged due to some other component failure.

[Martin]

I had the same issue - bad AC smell and the response from the dealer at it's first service (15k) was "your pollen filter is filthy & needs replacing, we also recommend a disinfectant bomb"

Absolutely - the filter is a consumable and needs to be replaced every 6~9 months

Was more expensive than I thought I should pay

This is one of the dealership's gravy trains (gouging, rort, highway robbery, choose the term you prefer)

The carbon filters are cheap (I bought 5 from UK for $14 each and minimal postage)
Glen 20 is a simple and somewhat effective approach but the AutoGlym Air/Con sanitizer is much more effective ($25~$27)
Car Care Products / Autoglym / Interior / Air Freshener / Air-Con Sanitizer

I don't park under dirty trees, I haven't been rallying in the car, and it's parked in a lockup garage at night, and I don't live in Beijing with the world's worst air pollution. I have NO idea how or why the filter got so bad.

Those factors are irrelevant

It's just the amount of time spent filtering air
All that road film/grim that lands on the car is also going through the filter

The aircon system creates humidity which goes through the filter
Using recirculation mode a increases this problem
These can lead to mildew which is one of the causes of the smell
But recirculation is a good idea when getting into the car to warm or cool the interior quickly
and while in rush hour traffic to minimise exhaust fumes in the car

[Spinifex]

Pollen filter is a maintenance item.
Only way it'd ever be replaced under warranty is if it had been damaged due to some other component failure.

Agreed - but 6 months? Really?

[Spinifex]

Absolutely - the filter is a consumable and needs to be replaced every 6~9 months

I understand the premise of the consumable filter, but I have to disagree on the time-frame.

These items are listed for replacement every 2 years, in the servicing schedule (I cannot for the life of me find where I've seen that, but I'm certain someone managed to find the complete servicing schedule for current model vehicles and posted it somewhere recently. Despite that, just about every other car on the planet requires in-cabin pollen filters to be replaced every 2 years.

My old Subaru Liberty had a pollen filter - I owned that car for 8+ years, and I think it got changed about twice in it's entire service history - ALL serviced at my specific service agent, who was Subaru trained, but independent. And the Liberty NEVER had any bad smells from the AC.

My Mazda6 that I traded for the Octy - also had the pollen filter replaced twice, in the 4 years I owned it.

Based on your premise of replacing every 6 to 9 months, that's MORE than the 15000k / annual service required, which can't possibly be correct.

This is one of the dealership's gravy trains (gouging, rort, highway robbery, choose the term you prefer)

Agreed - it's how they make their money, because they don't make any money on the cars themselves

The carbon filters are cheap (I bought 5 from UK for $14 each and minimal postage)
Glen 20 is a simple and somewhat effective approach but the AutoGlym Air/Con sanitizer is much more effective ($25~$27)
Car Care Products / Autoglym / Interior / Air Freshener / Air-Con Sanitizer

I'll keep this in mind for next time it happens - as it cost me close to $200 for them to fix it at my service.
Around $80 for the genuine filter, and about $120 for the deodoriser bomb..... plus about 30km range of fuel consumption, while they ran the bomb with the AC going.
I know I got totally jipped with the pricing for this, but I didn't have time to argue about it and I didn't want the smell in my almost-brand-new car anymore, so I reluctantly agreed to them doing it.

Those factors are irrelevant - It's just the amount of time spent filtering air.
All that road film/grim that lands on the car is also going through the filter.
The aircon system creates humidity which goes through the filter.
Using recirculation mode a increases this problem.
These can lead to mildew which is one of the causes of the smell.
But recirculation is a good idea when getting into the car to warm or cool the interior quickly and while in rush hour traffic to minimise exhaust fumes in the car

I disagree they aren't relevant. While I agree with your explanation of how it all works - I rarely have the re-circ selected, as I leave the AUTO function to work that out for itself.
The ONLY time I ever select re-circ myself, is when sitting in traffic behind a particularly smelly car and I'm getting gassed! That's only if the Octy's "simply clever" automatic air-quality sensor doesn't kick in quickly enough to set the re-circ automatically itself.

I know the cause of the dirty-socks smell is the mould/mildew that grows on the condenser core - and the "trick" they tell you to prevent this, is to always turn off the AC about 5 minutes before turning off the car but leave the ventilation fan running.... so the fan can "dry out" any remaining moisture from the condenser core, which will prevent the buildup of the mould/bacteria that causes the smell.

In my situation - I have the ventilation fan running PERMANENTLY in my cars - always have done - even when I have the windows open. I NEVER turn the fan off. So there is NO reason for any mould to be growing in my pollen filter or in my AC system, to the point that I get the filthy smell.

Therefore, the pollen filter seems to be the root-cause of the smelly issue in my car.

I reiterate - my car is ONLY 7 months old now... and at the 5 month old mark, the smell started filling the cabin. The "cause" as diagnosed by Skoda service, was a dirty pollen filter, which was replaced. I asked for the original pollen filter to be given to me for inspection, which they did.... and it looks meh, doesn't look CAKED in filth, but looks a little dirty.

My argument is - where is all this filth coming from? In any other car I've had, the pollen filters get inspected and deemed NOT needing replacing except for at the 2-year intervals specified by the manufacturer. I've NEVER had to replace one earlier than the specified interval, and I'm driving the same roads/conditions as I've been driving my previous 2-3 cars.

I maintain - the intake position for cabin ventilation is obviously badly designed or positioned, so that it sucks in EVERY particle of external muck it can find, instead of having some baffles or other system to reduce the majority of large particulates that make their way into the cabin.

After all, it's a POLLEN filter, not a generic AIR filter.... it's designed to filter out TINY TINY TINY particles that may enter the cabin, from the ventilation system.

[raraku]

Agreed - but 6 months? Really?

Yeah I agree - every other car I've had, it's been a 2-3 year service item. Never had a new car where the AC has had a foul smell like this after only 12 months!

[Mickymills]

hi everybody,

has anybody else experienced an issue with their octavia where the AC has a bad smell coming from it? I've got a 2016 MK3 Octavia and it's been pretty good up until about 2-3 weeks ago (just after its 1st service actually) and the AC now isn't smelling fantastic

In previous cars I've done the trick of putting some Glen20 through the system which appears to kill any bad bacteria which is in the system, thinking about doing the same in the Octavia

No 2 ways about it.... change the pollen filter. I sent a can of glen 20 in, and it made little difference.
Buy the pollen filter, and a new deodoriser. (California scents, 'boston new car' is my favourite).


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[DETROITCANDY]

I've got the same ethos as Spinifex when it comes to cabin air circulation, although I've never seen the auto recirc function work as expected before I've hit the button. I'm not sure how bad the air needs to be before it kicks in.
MY RS just had its first service two weeks ago and I requested that the pollen filter be changed ahead of schedule because of a bad smell sometimes after recirc has been used. Car is parked outside and sees plenty of muck. Genuine filter only cost additional $40 at the 15K service which I think was reasonable but didn't know there was a deodorizer 'bomb' that should be used in conjunction with repair. Where do people buy these from?

[ope126]

I have used the Auto Glym Air-Con Cleaner exclusively for the last 10yrs or so in all my vehicles; Air-Con Cleaner

Liqui Moly also does one (as with many other brands); http://www.liqui-moly.com.au/worksho...-conditioning/