AnnHo

Can anyone tell me why everytime I turn on the A/C in my car, it smells like a foot?? My car is still new and I don't smoke or put any scents in my car, but I can't seem to figure out why the A/C is so musty.

RobertG

When the a/c is running the evaporator in the cab is cooling the cabin and it is also removing moisture at the same time.That moisture is evident when you see water dripping under your car.Some times not all the water will drain so this water might give-off that smell.When the a/c is on the evaporator is very cold,and when you shut the car off a lot of condensation will form on the evaporator which could also be the culprit of this musky smell.If it's real bad have the dealer look into it .

AnnHo

Thanks RobertG. I guess I'll ask the service rep. about it on Friday when I bring in my car in for an airbag recall. I don't know what it is, but it seems like ever since I bought my car, I've had nothing but problems with it!! I've been driving loan cars more than my own car!

allen_7

Same issue with my MY04 E500 and MY04.5 C230SS. Whenever I bring them to service I mention this issue to SA, they never done anything 'cause they can't smell it when they testing it.

RobertG

the smell comes when the a/c is not used for a while like few hours and when you first turn it on and then it goes away, although to the owner the smell still lingers around and to the person looking for it it's no longer there- untill next time.

mleskovar

It's because MB, and some other manufacturers (but not all) have not figured out how to evacuate the moisture from an AC system after the car has been turned off and mold grows in the AC petri dish.

shorthair

No! They knew exactly how to do that prior to about 2001. I surmise the last guy in the company to have that skill retired about then.

AnnHo

Thanks for the info mleskovar. I really couldn't figure out what it was because my car is only a year old. I actually thought one of the service technicians threw one of their dirty socks inside the A/C vent because they got tired of me bringing my car in every other week. hahah.. Yeah, it smells that bad sometimes I don't even want to turn on my A/C.

mleskovar

There's aerosols that you can spray into the fresh air vent that gets rid of the smell temporarily.....

jtC320

i don't know if this would help...when i usually drive, i would have the ac circulated in the car...but when i know i'm close to home or somewhere where my car is going to be off for more than an hour, i would have the air circulated from the outside in to sort of "dry" the moisture off...maybe give that a try?

diamondblak05

If that was true, then I would consider German engineering to be the dumbest in the world. All the Japanese cars that I've driven since 1985... none of them have this problem. German engineering my $ss! I've brought mine in 3 times already for this very smell and come home mad and fustrated because I would get the same answer everytime...."there's nothing we can do about it because MB doesn't have a fix for it."

AnnHo

You seem pretty frustrated. I get the same way everytime I come home from the service department. Don't get my wrong. I love my car. I'm not sure if it's the service that I get that sucks, or something's just wrong with my car. I used to have rattling problems with all my speakers. Now it's just the back speakers when the bass in the music is high. I've brought it in probably about 5 times and they keep telling me different things and that it's fixed. I finally brought it to another Park Place service department, and they told me that it was because of the sun screen in the back and that there was nothing they could do about that. They told me I had to raise the sunscreen if I heard the rattling. I wasn't too happy considering the amount of money I have to pay every month for my car.

Now I have the car scheduled this weekend to have my airbags replaced for some recall. I think I'll just ask the service rep if there's anything they can do about the A/C. I bet they'll tell me the same thing they told you. haha lookin forward to this.....

RobertG

Evaporators can be cleaned (washed)as long as they are easy to get to,I dont think our MB's have easy way to do this, that's why they are staying away from that method.I've done this type of service on GM products So what you are experiencing is not limited to MB cars.
You can limit the amount of smell by drying the evaporator after use, just turn off the a/c compressor by selecting economy for 1 to 2 min before you shut the car down.

shorthair

Unfortunately that is not correct. The A/C still runs for another 10 minutes or so after it is turned off. The only ways to turn the A/C off immediately after pushing the EC button is 1) Turn the fan speed to OFF, then turn back on 2) Turn the car off and then restart the car.

The A/C stink is a very common problem in several models of MB cars. This has been a recurring thread for several years. They, MB, should be ashamed of themselves for failing to fix this.

Note: When leaving the car always push the REST button. This will circulate air for little while and help somewhat with the problem.

RobertG

dont know about your model of MB but my car can be controlled just as I stated, not rub it in to anybody but my a/c system doesnt produce any smell
Mb is not the only manufacturer to suffer from this , Once the mold set in it' s tough to get rid of it unless you clean it.



In the future try to give members here some hope not just doom and gloom

mleskovar

What? Once the motor stops the A/C compressor stops. EC keeps the air circulating and is effective in helping to dry out the evaporator and reduce the environment for mold to live and grow.

Outland

Consider for a moment that your car is designed in a part of the world where the conditions are substantially different than California. AC systems on german cars have never been outstanding.

shorthair

Lucky you! (about the smell...) It is the newer models that started having the problems.

shorthair

You are correct. Once the engine stops the A/C compressor stops. However while the car engine is running pushing the EC button to turn the compressor off does not actually stop the compressor immediately, but cycles it down after a preset time.
This behavior is what (in my opinion) Mercedes did not design so cleverly. Below is a an excerpt of a tech document for the w203 which describes the behavior.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think the dedicated REST button was deleted on the newer models and instead that same function is activated by pressing the EC button when the key is in the off position.

RobertG

read the first paragraph on the document that you posted , by pressing the ec button you turn off the a/c compressor if that happens then you are no longer pushing freon through the evaporator , thus the evaporator will begin to dry

shorthair

The left column describes the simple operation and the right column is the technical detail about its operation. You missed the last sentence in the right column where it says "switches off the refigerant compressor after a defined time delay."

You can easily see this on a hot day. Set temp control cool, (about 66) then ride around for a few minutes. Push the EC button and after several minutes you will still feel cold air coming out. Turn the FAN to off then back on and after several seconds you will feel much warmer more humid air.

(remember, we are in the w203 forum - this may not apply to your w210 but it probably does apply to a w211.)

yellowrama

I just went to the dealer to get my A/C checked out. I said that the A/C has musty odor, so they performed "A/C System Ultrasonic Cleaning with Wynns machine"(Whatever that means!), Anyways, now my A/C doesn't have the musty smell and I hope this is permanent.

mleskovar

Just curiious....do you leave your temp control on automatic? I do, and prefer the charcoal filtered cabin air (on the older C320s) and don't find the need to open windows and rarely open the sunroof. I never had the smell that many complain about. Without being negative, I think your "A/C System Utrasonic...." is temporary. The conditions that lead to it happening to begin with can't be changed unless you change environments or temp control habits in the car.

RJC

There was a DTB out on this for the 03-04's and possibly early 05's. The drain pan may not be angled enough to allow proper drainage of condensation...see your dealer and have them look this up.

shorthair

Was that for the w211 only or did it apply to the W203 also?