Smells like a gents urinal

[stevebear]

Started up the aircon t'other day on my W203 coupe and it stank and has a couple of times since. Still ice cold and have used most weeks / days so not like its gone stagnant I would have thought. I got it regassed about 18 months again.
Doesn't happen every time I'm out.
Anyone any ideas why it should smell so badly and sporadically?
Cheers

[kev b]

Have you not switched on the aircon all winter? That's not ideal.

You can get a specialist to disinfect the system but first you can try this - First run the aircon and check that the drain is clear by watching for water to drip onto the floor, if it doesn't then you need to unblock it.

Then, switch off the aircon, set it to recirculate then start the car, windows closed and heater set to high and run it for 30 mins. This should kill off most of the odour, you might want to buy some aircon sanitiser and give that a go as well.

[Sealine South]

Mine does the same. The smell disappears after a couple of minutes but its really not pleasant!

Where would I find the drain? Is it accessible to unblock if necessary? Also would the Pollen filter have anything to do with it? If so I am sure I could change it if I knew where it was!

Thanks

[kev b]

I'm not familiar with your car but a quick google on various Mercedes Forums should tell you what you need to know.

[Sealine South]

Thanks Kev, mine is a E55 Wagon (W211 - 53 reg).

The dippy bird at the stealer said it would be the Charcoal filter but I don't have one on my car!!

[georgejoshington]

Sealine South said:

Thanks Kev, mine is a E55 Wagon (W211 - 53 reg).

The dippy bird at the stealer said it would be the Charcoal filter but I don't have one on my car!!

She's half-right and fully muddled - bad smells inside the car can be caused by a rancid pollen/cabin filter, but actually charcoal/carbon pollen filters are immune to this.

[P.Nott]

I second the advice about running the car for 30 mins or so with windows shut, full heat and switched to recirc. My old CLK had this same problem and I found that proprietary aircon disinfectant and new pollen filter made no difference until I tried the heating trick which cured the awful stink once and for all. I normally repeated it every few months thereafter to keep it smelling sweet.
As said, keeping the drains clear will help too.

[kev b]

OP have a look on MB world under "musty a/c odor question". It seems this is a known issue resulting in lots of service bulletins and model year upgrades. HTH

Sorry, I don't know how to do a link to it.

[AC43]

Sealine South said:

Also would the Pollen filter have anything to do with it? If so I am sure I could change it if I knew where it was!

Thanks

I've got an E500 and it has a pollen filter in the engine bay near the bulkhead on the passenger side IIRC. I changed it myself last year. Will have a look when I get home.

It's worth having a look to see if it is clogged.

But as the others have said it won't be the filter that's causing the stink.

EDIT - this shows you how to do it on an E500 - good chance it's the same set up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFuw87p2GV0

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 16th July 10:23

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 16th July 10:26