smelly heater (when hot) on fabia or similar, anyone have this ?

[paul2129]

Hi, I have a strange smell that comes from my heater vents when the engine is at full temperature and the heater is on hot.... therefore I only tend to notice this at the end of a drive of say 15 miles.

The smell is hard to describe but it smells like something dead, a kind of 'off' smell

The car has air con which isn't in use when you can smell this smell and yet it does get plenty of use, so I can rule out issues with smelly air-con due to lack of use build up inside the air con

I had a new Fiat van a few years ago which I was sure suffered from the same problem

does anyone have this problem or know what the cause is ??

thanks in advance for the help

Paul.

[irfant]

First take a look to the cabin (pollen) filter...

Sometimes humidity causes a bad smell on the cabin filter...

[paul2129]

Thanks for the advice, I'll take a look at that pollen filter. Interestingly, I changed a Fabia for a Roomster, didn't like the Fabia much but I'm very happy with the extra space I've got with the Roomster.

Was looking at some of the pictures connected with the one you have on your reply (of your Roomster), is the smashed Fabia your old car ? what happened ?

Paul.

[k4yl13]

if your car hasnt done many miles it could be your catalyic converter, mine did it for a while and the garage siad its normal for the the first ten thousand miles

x

[irfant]

is the smashed Fabia your old car ? what happened ?

Paul.

Nope

I've found the photos from Czech forums to share here...

[Fab Estate]

My Fiat Panda has the same problem. I can best describe the smell as a sweet smell and only occurs when when the heater has been on max for quite a while.