The A/C on my '05 c230 has a musty smell that comes from the vents. During start up and 2-3 minutes after I turn of the compressor and just leave the fan on. I have noticed that others have had this problem and recommend the A/C service from the dealer that will clean the A/C coils and I had that done but it did little to fix the problem. I think they just sprayed some type of cleaner into the vents and charged me $250. I called and spoke with the SA and she tells me to spray LYSOL in the vents but I had been doing that already with little results. Has anyone else done anything other that these two things that has proved effective in discipating the smell. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You.

 

welcome to the club! everyone has/had that experiece with that mildew smell, my dealer did something to it, and I have never smelled it ever again. except the first time turning on the AC during the summer.

 

Lotions and potions don't work for this. Changing the evaporator does.

 

 

thank you! been trying to get rid of that uggggh smell for a bit.

 

An Ozone generator is whats needed.
Fill the car with ozone, and then circulate it through the AC system.

 

Where do you get the Ozone generator? I have no plans to go to a hotel and ask if I can borrow theirs. Or should I just stick my Sharper Image Ionic Breeze in there? Unfortunately for me, I just changed to the "Ozone Guard" model which is supposed to reduce the ozone.

 

A company called Wurth, out of Germany, makes a very good product which acts kind of like a "bug bomb". YOu let the can spray while the AC is running on recirculation and it cleans out the mildew, etc. I swear it is very good and it costs about $25.00. You should give it a try.

 

I googled it and found this on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Wurth...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I had to have mine changed last year.

 

This sounds like it is worth giving a try.

 

http://www.wurthusa.com/project/en/l...th=04.0271.jpg



This is it...it is called "Quick-Fresh". The website is very hard to use, as it is really for wholesale body shops. You may need to buy 6. But, I swear it works.

 

I love Wurth products. I have rack of their stuff in my garage. The Quickfresh is not going to kill mold or mildew, even if you take the evaporator out and dip it. This product is LP gas, Acetone, and Propan-2-ol.

http://mail.wurth.ca/msdse/893.76451new.pdf

Mercedes recently lost an appeal over this issue in a California case concerning a W203 with a stinking AC system:

Isip v Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC B192382, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION FIVE, September 12, 2007, Filed

 

If you say, so...It is still a good product.

 

Liquid freakin' PROPANE!?!

Go to a local detail shop. They'll have the Ozone generator, removes odors.
Have them run it for a while, then run it through the AC using the Rercir.
for an hour or so.

 

we use a chemical at the dealer that we spray into the evap casing to kill the odor. if that doesn't work and the car comes back it's up to our service manager if we install a new evap.

 

I just bought my 2006 C230 last week. I checked through the maintenance history, and at 7,200 miles this service was performed:

Complaint: Customer states musty smell from A/C system
Cause: Bacteria growth in evaporator
Correction: Perform ultrasonic cleaning
Parts:
AIR SEP TE VA - Air Sept Clean Evap - Qty. 1 - $14.94
AIR SEP TA IR - Air Sept Coil Coa - Qty. 1 - $38.50
000 997 33 20 - Expension Pl - Qty. 1 - $0.84

Total cost $126.00

This was overed under warranty, so $0 out of pocket for owner.