Hi there,

Am driving a 2007 Mk1 superb for a month or so now - and just since the last day or two, I am noticing a mild but noticeable odour whenever I start the car. It seems to fade after a bit, so I'm assuming it must be related to the a/c. If it was just the dead body in the boot there'd be a consistently foul odour...

Anyway assuming it's the a/c, does anyone have any idea where to start looking into what might be causing it? I'm concerned because we have had a bit of rain, so if it's the plenum chamber drains - does that mean I am now only one dodgy pollen filter seal away from water ingress problem?

Anyone else encounter this problem, en route to water ingress or otherwise? Answers suggesting something more pedestrian would be especially welcome!

Thanks

That odour from the A/C is very common and comes from the bugs that grow in the water that drips off of the condenser.

The cure, I'm told, is a "bomb". You have the car running with fans on full and recircing the air, set the "bomb" going, get out of the car, close the windows and doors and the "bomb" sprays an aerosol of sterilising solution into the air, that's then sucked through all the grills and vents etc.

Am told that you can buy them at Halfords etc, but I found that a can of Dettol sterilising spray fired through the slightly open door did a pretty good job and smelt pretty good afterwards. It's only a temporary measure of course, the bugs will grow again and the smell will be back again next year.

have you tried turning the a/c off (setting it to ECON mode) - if you still get the smell then presumably it's not a/c related (?)

cheers

Cheers for the feedback folks, I reckon I'll try running the blowers with recirculated air enabled whilst sitting in the car with an antibacterial spray gun. I'm told it might not be a good idea to remain in the car while so doing - but I can't see the harm in trying it out for a few minutes.

As regards the ECON mode, the bad odour is definitely still present even when that's pressed. I wasn't aware that pressing ECON disabled the a/c entirely - do the blowers not still run?

Well anyway I'll report back assuming I don't die of ammonia poisoning. Oh and if anyone that has experienced the water ingress problem can recall whether a sudden onset of malodourous a/c was an early symmptom - maybe they can let me know??

thanks briskodians, you are the best.

That odour from the A/C is very common and comes from the bugs that grow in the water that drips off of the condenser.

The cure, I'm told, is a "bomb". You have the car running with fans on full and recircing the air, set the "bomb" going, get out of the car, close the windows and doors and the "bomb" sprays an aerosol of sterilising solution into the air, that's then sucked through all the grills and vents etc.

Am told that you can buy them at Halfords etc, but I found that a can of Dettol sterilising spray fired through the slightly open door did a pretty good job and smelt pretty good afterwards. It's only a temporary measure of course, the bugs will grow again and the smell will be back again next year.

I have seen these in the local pound land! They are the car plan ones tesco sell for £5! Gotta love the pound shop!!

It probably won't help you getting rid of the smell, but I never had this problem in 9 years of owning 2 cars with air conditioning.

Put simply, you should not use airco with recirculation closed for any period of time longer than 5-10mins, and afterwards the car should be ventilated with open airflow for at least 2-3mins before stopping engine.

Basically, the recirculation is there for the time when engine is still warming up (in winter), and for occassional use in tunnels, traffic jam, etc.

Trying to save fuel but keeping recirculation on when airco is running leads to headaches (no fresh air), nasty smell and in extreme cases you may catch legionnaire's disease.

As soon as engine is warmed up / you're out of tunnel/traffic fumes, airflow should be set to open.

On the Superb it is actually easy to achieve because if you close the recirculation flap on cold engine, it will open itself automatically.

i still dont know how to switch the air con on/off :S all the car's ive had have always had a seperate AC button, is the aircon on the skoda ON when you put it on the LOW setting?

sorry for my stuppindnes

Airco is off when it says ECON on the screen (economy mode), to switch off press econ button. Of course, it is also off when the fan is set to off, and whenever outside temperature is below 4 deg C.

LO means lowest temp possible, generally it is not good to set it below 20deg (although I do use 19deg at night for autobahn travel)

Oh and if anyone that has experienced the water ingress problem can recall whether a sudden onset of malodourous a/c was an early symmptom - maybe they can let me know??

we almost certainly have the water ingress problem - it's being looked at next week - and get a stink of rotten cabbages in the cabin. It's there when the car's been stood for a while and BEFORE anything is turned on. It goes away after the venting by opening windows and/or running the fans.