Musty smell in cabin (997 GTS)
Discussion
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
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
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.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 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.Any ideas what could be causing it please chaps?
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.
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