Smell when air con or fan turns on

[Hylen]

I bought a used 2020 Swace recently.

When you turn the air con on or just the fans itself, it stinks of dog or something for the first 20 seconds and then goes away (or I got used to it).

Would changing the cabin filter rectify this? If so does anyone know the part number for the filter and where I can get one or any aftermarket ones which fits?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Presuming you bought it from a dealer, I'd query the fault with them with regard to them sorting it.

[Cyker]

Yea, if got from a dealer make it their problem.

Otherwise, check/replace the cabin filter as these often get overlooked, and consider getting an 'aircon bomb' - basically it's a deodorant and antibacterial thing you set off in the car, preferably aimed at the recirc intake vent, with the ac on, fans at max and recirculate on with all doors and windows closed that is supposed to remove that stinky swamp smell and kill any bacteria causing it.

 

[TonyHSD]

Most likely fungi formed on the ac core or along drainage system, filter should be changed more often , once a year or 10K miles 

[oldcodger]

If an air con Bomb does not  fully clear things,  then use one of the foam sanitizers that you spray down into the air con matrix and vent pipes,  worked well for us.

 

[TonyHSD]

Here is my 2 cents how to fix smelling AC.

Buy this spray

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084R1XD3T?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_4WPDRSPEXYWJE3SVEGYY

Buy new cabin filter.

Remove old cabin filter and clean the area around from debris and dust, all needs to be dry and clean. Open bonnet and clean all plastic gutter around the wipers particularly where the air suck vent is, look through and see if there are any leaf’s, debris or mud., if yes you have to clean it. 

Turn the car ON and switch the AC OFF.
Set air flow towards middle and feet.  
Adjust temperature to max heat and air intake from outside.  
Fan speed 2. 
Crack open all windows just an inch, exit the car and close all doors. 
Go to the front and spray few short blasts dettol antibacterial aerosol into the air intake vent, repeat few times. You need to leave the car ON for at least 30min. After that while the car is still ON and hvac operating open drivers door and change the air flow few times towards windshield, feet, middle dash, turn ON AC and leave it on for 5min, then turn off AC and let the system works for another 5min on heat only and go through air blow settings again. After the procedure is completed, set the hvac settings as per your preference, turn off the car and leave all doors open for 5-10 min to let the heat escape and refresh the cabin. Instal the new pollen filter. 
Job done. All bacteria and fungi were killed and you will have no smelling ac anymore. 👍

 

[Parts-King]

Cannot disagree with any of the above

We use this commercial Sanity cleaner, very good for killing anything in the car LOL

 

[Cyker]

It certainly looks the part! My first thought was it looks like some sort of Bond-esque doomsday device!!  

[Parts-King]

Just now, Cyker said:

It certainly looks the part! My first thought was it looks like some sort of Bond-esque doomsday device!!  

The problem with the wands and bombs is you don't get to all the surfaces where nasty niffs hang out, they will do a good job, but often return. They don't when the Sanity machine gets going lol 

[Cyker]

I'd not heard of such a thing before but it makes sense as ozone is highly reactive and quite toxic to most micro-organisms as it just rips them apart on contact!

[Hylen]

Cheers I'll give some of these advice a go.

The dealer said it should have been done as I told them about it before putting deposit and it was going to get a full valet to sort it out. But on buying day after driving off it was still there although it was very clean. They called me to check how the car was and I told them about it and they will send some kind of spray or something to sort it out where I won't be able to drive the car for the whole day. 

So after using these stuff it is best to change the cabin filter afterwards as well? 

[TonyHSD]

7 minutes ago, Hylen said:

Cheers I'll give some of these advice a go.

The dealer said it should have been done as I told them about it before putting deposit and it was going to get a full valet to sort it out. But on buying day after driving off it was still there although it was very clean. They called me to check how the car was and I told them about it and they will send some kind of spray or something to sort it out where I won't be able to drive the car for the whole day. 

So after using these stuff it is best to change the cabin filter afterwards as well? 

Yes, more often you change better for your health and for the blower fan motor and resistor block,, some of these can burn out because of blockage in that filter. 👍

[Cyker]

Maybe see if they'll send you a new cabin filter with the spray! They're not expensive either way, even Toyota ones!

[Parts-King]

15 hours ago, Cyker said:

I'd not heard of such a thing before but it makes sense as ozone is highly reactive and quite toxic to most micro-organisms as it just rips them apart on contact!

We bought the kit at the first sign of Covid, we needed a quick method of sanitising customers cars before sending them back out again, it is very popular