Let’s face it, we’re all guilty of reaching for the air con on those hot summer days, but when that smell starts coming from your air conditioning, there’s nothing worse. It just so happens that there turns out to be a good reason for it.
These are just some of the most common reasons why your car air conditioning is causing a smell:
Lack of use
Does your air conditioning smell like a rugby team’s wash bag, maybe smelly socks with a hint of mud? It’s not unusual for it to smell like this but it’s probably the last thing you would want your car to be smelling like.
Lack of use may be one of the reasons why your air conditioning is causing this awful small. When this happens, it can cause dirt and bacteria to build up in your car’s air-con system, allowing for them to form and grow in your air vents. It can leave your car smelling real musty and unpleasant and you can bet you’ll want to get rid of it as soon as you can.
It can be solved by an anti-bacterial clean of your car’s air conditioning filters, and you should find it will be right as rain again in no time. If this is the case, it’s best to try and tackle it as soon as you can as air conditioning can assist mould development in air vents and you don’t’ want that.
Air conditioning recharge
If your air conditioning has run out, and you’ve noticed that your car has started to smell, this could be why. If you need to top it up but have been putting it off for some time, now is the time to do it if your car is not smelling too good.
To recharge your air conditioning, your old refrigerant gas from the air-con system would be removed and it would be replaced by a new refrigerant. A recharge is generally recommended once every two years but this may vary depending on how much you use your air-con, the age, and the design of your air conditioning unit in your car too.
A leak
If you notice a funny smell coming from your car’s air conditioning, it could be because of a leak causing unwanted fluids, which have found their way into your air-con system. The leak could have come from a part of the engine or maybe another component of your vehicle, which is now causing fluids to seep into your air-con system and smell.
In this situation, it’s a good idea to have your car inspected fully to assess the situation and to prevent any further damage. It’s always best to get these things checked out as soon as you can, it’s best to do these things sooner rather than leaving them until later.
Engine coolant
Have you noticed a sweet smell with your car’s air conditioning? If you have, but you’ve just not even considered it could be anything to do with your air-con, now would be the time to have your system checked.
Sometimes, that sweet smell could be caused by a toxic liquid or your engine coolant, which is a result of a leak in your car’s cooling system.
Dirty air filters
Cleaning your car’s air conditioning system might sound simple, but it could also be one of those jobs that you put off doing until one day, your car’s air con is smelling. Your air conditioning in your car could be smell because you simply need to clean your air filters.
If you have been using your air-con regularly throughout the year, then you will need to clean the dirt and bacteria that have built up in your air vents to help stop any smells. You can either replace your air-con filter, or you could book your car in for an air-con clean, whichever is easier for you.
