unusual smell from vents

[bobngo]

2.5 diesel N reg
i,ve been getting an unusual smell from air ducts ,do,nt know what burnt celery smells like , but it does smell like something slightly burnt. its not there all the time but intermittant, heater control was set to full cold, so heat was not involved
i had previously checked the engine cover clamps were fully closing ,after reading a previous post by someone else
fan switch was set to position 1 through out trip (see below)
also the windscreen drain pipe had been checked and was clear (no rain during trip)

i went for a 120 mile drive ,on motorway and urban ,a/c NOT on during trip, although it has been used quite abit in recent hot weather.

by the time i had got home ,had a very sore throat, and the following two days were herendus, i felt it was caused by that smell ,what ever it is ???

today ,after recovering from the effects , did some checking, found that with the engine running, but van stationary ,and fan in position 1, i could only just feel air flow though ducts, but in motion due to ram air effect this position is normally enough ventilation, so is this low stationary air flow in postion 1 about normal, ????

when in full cold position does the air pass though any filter /heat exchanger etc ????

i did see a post on this site where someone had a virtual vegetable patch of microbes growing on a heat exchanger, and full instructions on how to remove all the bits to clean it out , but can,t find that now ???

is there anyway of haveing a peek at any areas likely to cause problems without takeing all the air system to bits ,

due to the hell i,ve been through in the last 3 days i,m reluctant to drive it until i find the cause !!!!

[missfixit70]

It'll more than likely be crap build up on the evap matrix ( air intake passes over this), some anti bacterial stuff squirted in may help the smell for a bit, but the only way is to take it apart TBH, the fact sheet in the members area on repairing the fan motor tells you how to get to it, or do a search on "burnt & celery" & that should get you somewhere to finding the threads you're after.
Position 1 on the fan is fairly feeble, turn it up to max & see what happens.

[Northern Bongolow]

i did mine last week thanks to kirstys prompts,although it was working fine with no smells.i found that about a third of the aircon matrix was covered in a good layer of decomposing(fluff) and foreign insect bodies!!!!!! it did take some careful removing, and an airline would not shift it,i had to gently scrape it off.demist and heater work a lot better now with the improved air flow.while your in there service the heater motor as well,as this surfers from water ingress.

[bobngo]

thanks nothern bongolow and miss fixit, yes i thought thats what i,d end up having to do, but thought maybe i could get around it,

when fan switched to position 4 , have to make sure the safety belt is on first, its like a tornado, so no problems there

[mikexgough]

Full Guide Here

[Diplomat]

by the time i had got home ,had a very sore throat, and the following two days were herendus, i felt it was caused by that smell ,what ever it is ???

I couldn't help being interested in this comment as over many years of having occasional throat infections I began to realise that a precursor to the other symptoms was a hypersensitivity to certain smells, typically tobacco fumes, petrol vapour and exhaust fumes.

Invariably, soon after being irritated fumes that normally go unnoticed, along would come the sore throat followed by the infection slowly working its way around the upper respiratory system and doing its best to get into the lungs.

Notwithstanding that the aircon system may be riddled with bacteria, I wonder if you might have already caught the infection elswhere before noticing the smell?

Has anyone else noticed this form of hypersensitivity or has Bongoliers Disease just been discovered?


Frank

[chalky]

Hi,

We took the Bongo to Germany last week and covered over a thousand miles. The way there we had the AC on and had a funny smell for a while. Both my wife and I caught some mouth virous which gave us a bitter taste for five days. I recon it came from the mouldy AC.

[missfixit70]

15 years (or however long) of crud build up most of it in Japan, who knows what's growing in there

[helen&tony]

Hi
Yes...I've had that at the start of the summer with all air conditioned cars...but then I had been a smoker for a very long time, so my lungs are more like kippers
Cheers
Helen

[Northern Bongolow]

good shout on the method mike,and love the translation