Musty smell in cabin (997 GTS)

Musty smell in cabin (997 GTS)

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So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Monday 17th July 2017
quotequote all

The last week or so the inside of my GTS has been smelling vaguely musty when I first get in. My initial thought was a water leak, but the carpets appear dry.

Any ideas what could be causing it please chaps?

NAS90

146 posts

111 months

Monday 17th July 2017
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Hopefully not......but might be the AC evaporator behind the dashboard. Before I sold up and retired, we used to do 996/997 evaporators at a rate of around one per month and a bad smell inside the car is one of the symptoms. Is the AC still ice cold or is its performance dropping off?

Alternatives are that the car is damp somewhere, blocked drain tubes, a gromit come loose in the floor or a bulkhead are all possible causes. Worth checking again all the carpets to make sure they aren't wet anywhere at all, including the bonnet.

Also check the A/C particle filter, if it is blocked it can't do its job properly and might be a cause

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Monday 17th July 2017
quotequote all
NAS90 said:
Hopefully not......but might be the AC evaporator behind the dashboard. Before I sold up and retired, we used to do 996/997 evaporators at a rate of around one per month and a bad smell inside the car is one of the symptoms. Is the AC still ice cold or is its performance dropping off?

Alternatives are that the car is damp somewhere, blocked drain tubes, a gromit come loose in the floor or a bulkhead are all possible causes. Worth checking again all the carpets to make sure they aren't wet anywhere at all, including the bonnet.

Also check the A/C particle filter, if it is blocked it can't do its job properly and might be a cause
Air is still ice cold.

Nobby Diesel

2,051 posts

250 months

Monday 17th July 2017
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Does the 997 have door membranes, as the 996?
Feel along the bottom of the door cards. If damp, that could be the issue.

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
Nobby Diesel said:
Does the 997 have door membranes, as the 996?
Feel along the bottom of the door cards. If damp, that could be the issue.
Worth a try.

brownspeed

730 posts

130 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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does it have a rear wiper? seal may have perished..................

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
brownspeed said:
does it have a rear wiper? seal may have perished..................
Yes it does!

ChrisW.

6,209 posts

254 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Is the heater matrix leaking coolant ??

jonno_

140 posts

220 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Are you running climate control all the time and with compressor activated? It's designed to be left on all the time.

If all carpets are dry, have you checked the drains - do a quick search for the locations.

Last option is to buy one of those a/c 'bombs' just a few £ and easy to use.

Rockster

1,508 posts

159 months

Saturday 22nd July 2017
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So said:
The last week or so the inside of my GTS has been smelling vaguely musty when I first get in. My initial thought was a water leak, but the carpets appear dry.

Any ideas what could be causing it please chaps?
Probably a repeat of what others have offered, but it bears repeating.

You want to be sure the cabin carpets/foor is dry. Check under the seats.

Check along the door bottoms/carpets for any dampness. The door membranes can let water into the dry side of the door and the water will leak out and can lead to an odor in the car. Even worse it can subject the security module -- which sits on the floor under one of seats -- to water and this quickly ruins the security module. A new one ain't cheap.

Check the body water drains for blockage/accumulation of water. These are located under the front trunk lid just ahead of the windshield. You will have to remove the battery box cover and the covers on either side. In my cars the screws are Torx and have the "security feature" -- a small pip in the center of the Torx bit cavity -- and one must use a Torx bit that has a hole to clear this pip.

Be sure if the car is equipped with a sun/moon roof you vacuum out any trash/dirt that may collect in the runners/spaces with this open. There are water drains that carry water down to somewhere in the rear wheel well.

Another source of the odor can be a moldy evaporator. When the A/C is used this collects a lot of moisture -- courtesy of condensation -- and if the system is not run with compressor off for a few minutes -- to dry the evaporator -- before shutting off the engine/putting the car away for a while the wet evaporator makes for an attractive "home" for mold and mildew. Once this stuff takes root (so to speak) it is hard to get rid of.

There can a water catch pan/tray under this with a drain hole and the hole can be blocked and water can collect and stink after time.

Last but not least, and this has been the cause of a musty smell in the cabins of both my Porsche cars every once in a while, is the cabin air filter over time will develop an odor. The only cure is to just replace this. The activated charcoal one appears to be the worst offender but either style needs to be changed once in a while.

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Saturday 22nd July 2017
quotequote all
Thanks for all your replies guys.

The smell seems to have abated for now. But then I haven't washed the car for a couple of weeks.



Edited by So on Saturday 22 July 08:30

ChrisW.

6,209 posts

254 months

Saturday 22nd July 2017
quotequote all
It's worth getting to the bottom of.

There will be a reason and if not sorted it can cost a lot to put right in terms of prospective corrosion and reliability.

At this stage it could be a really simple fix ...

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Sunday 23rd July 2017
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Oh I agree. If it happens again it will be going into the OPC. This seems to have happened since I last washed it and so far just once. It's possible that I got some water in the car and it's a one off. But I won't be continuing with a car smelling off.