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Weird smell and metal rattling coming from car

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Old 08-24-2018, 06:38 PM
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Weird smell and metal rattling coming from car

The car's a little over 2 years old(MY16) and there's this weird odor coming from the vents when the AC turns on. The odor lasts a few minute and then disappears. It smells vinegary. The dealer says it might be condensation and mildew build-up inside the vents. They offered to replace the air cabin filter and spray something to get rid of the mildew for $270 CAD as they said it's not covered under warranty. Is this normal for them to change me for something that seems like a vehicle fault? Would this be a easy DIY fix?

Another problem is, I hear some metal rattling when the mash the gas pedal in 2nd gear. It usually happens near the upper RPMs(around 6-7K). Other gears seems fine. Has anyone experienced this before?

Thanks.
Old 08-24-2018, 08:22 PM
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The first (smell) is very common, and a search will yeild many results of previous experience among the w205 ownership. Yes, it's mildew. It's a bit better when I run it in non-recirculation.

The second (rattling) may be wastegate(s). Search for it. There's way better info than I can provide on this, but rattling can be caused by wastegate actuator. They put a clip on my gti to fix this, and I believe w205s have this problem too.
Old 08-25-2018, 01:01 PM
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You can replace the filters on your own. It takes about 20-30 mins. I’m not very technical and I was able to do it on my own
Old 08-25-2018, 01:43 PM
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Yeah mine seems to stink when it first starts up. I have prepaid maintenance that includes the filter but my entire engine was just replaced like 500 miles ago but car says maintenance due in 90 days... so who knows what I’m supposed to do.
Old 08-25-2018, 01:50 PM
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Have had that mildew smell on all my cars ... e class, Bmw, acura

its usually during humid hot months and ac condensation as discussed above promotes microbial growth

Old 08-25-2018, 05:54 PM
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In more humid summer conditions - when running AC "too low temp" - not uncommon for the evaporator to frost up - when evap frosts up system actually gets less efficient too ("doesn't feel cold enough") ... when car is turned off - that evap frost melts leaving system damp/weepy - and ultimately yes that will also mildew climate control air filter.

You can "clean/disinfect" from the dash vents - best product I have found to do this is Klima-Cleaner :

Amazon Amazon

It doesn't happen to me anymore - since I now choose to rely on Auto almost all the time - which I normally have set to like 72
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