Rover 45 Smelly air condition

[Haz]

I have a Rover 45 Y Reg. I love my car but after using the air con the smell in the car is awful. Any help PLEASE

[GuavaHalf]

You probably need to get the aircon serviced. They can get things growing in them especailly when they are not used for long periods eg over winter.

I think there might be a spray that you can try before taking it in for a service. Try halfords.

[KebabMeister]

First thing I'd check is that there aren't any leaves or crap under the bonnet.  Check the grill areas for dead birds etc.  Smell might be coming from that.  Otherwise I've never come across aircon smelling before.

[Tim Baxter]

Aircon does smell, even from brand new!  I've had 4 brand new corsas recently and each one smelled of damp plaster when using the aircon.  I think that it's also true that bacteria can build up in it so the manufacturers recommend you run it regularly, see your hand book!  I have a new 25 whose aircon does not smell at all.  I do use it regularly.  Good luck.

[KebabMeister]

Well, you may smell it Tim, but I've never smelled anything unpleasant on Air-Con on all the vehicles I've worked on (included many brand new cars).  Strange, I've never heard anyone else having a smelly air-con before this.  The only thing I'd remotely call it smelling of is like if you stuck your head in a very clean (and not smelly) fridge.  (this is on Rovers, Hondas, Jaguars, Range Rovers - can't comment on Vauxhaul/Opels).

[Tim Baxter]

Perhaps it is a peculiarity of Corsas, I was a driving instructor with a national school which used entirely Vauxhall motors and our comments on the smell were similar!

[norman1957]

yes i recently bought a w reg Renault Laguna 1.8 16V .. and the first thing i noticed was an unpleasant pong inside the car ..  it wasn't long before i recognised the smell ... I used to wotk in the refrigeration industry as an electrician travelling all over the UK to supermarkets .. and sure enough it's the same pong you find inside a a commercial refrigerator .. especially the evaporator coil .. and possibly the pong is worse when the fridge is not being used !!