My A/C stinks again

13150 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by hcube, Oct 11, 2019

Evlkarl

Discussion Starter · Jul 17, 2016

So the "Stink" on my A/C is back. The car went to the Dealer to have it fixed about 2 weeks ago. The Dealer checked the system blew out all the lines installed new Filter etc etc what ever needed to be done and now it stinks worse than before. I even switch the A/C now off when I park the car to see if it made a difference. It does not. The Dealer has no clue I checked it myself and can not find anything. I start to wonder if it is a design flaw from Mini that you just have enough water standing in the line to create that stink over time.

2014-2016 Mini Cooper A/C Fresh Air Duct Upper Section

I don, t know if the new A/C is different than the old once but I do not see any water dripping to the ground like it did on all the cars I drove in the past.

Time to get the heavy weapon out now ..."The Wunderbaum Giga Pack":laugh::laugh:

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Desert Rat

· #4 · Jul 17, 2016

Is it a vinegar smell? Got it this morning when I started the air con. Only lasted a couple of seconds, but pretty annoying. I've read about it but hadn't experienced it until now.

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Desert Rat

· #11 · Jul 18, 2016

Jonathan said:
Have you washed your car or driven in the rain recently?

Mine makes the vinegar smell if there is too much water flowing down the windscreen and gets into the aircon intake vents.

Running the car aircon on full power for 20 minutes sorted it out.

Haven't had any rain in a month. It's been too hot to was the car, our daily temperature is 108F (42C).

The vinegar smell was there this morning for only a few seconds and it goes away. From what I've seen on forums its a common issue with no real resolution. I've read that MINI has a fix but it seems that the smell comes back after a while just as EK said.

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Desert Rat

· #13 · Jul 18, 2016

kenl said:
This "could" be a health hazard! I would ask the dealer to push MINI for a permanent resolution.

On the other hand, could it be your screen wash? I used to get rental cars in Hawaii and when you used the screen washers there was a real stink of rotten eggs.

It's not the screen wash. I haven't used the screen wash and from what I've read it is a known issue going back to the 2014 models. It looks like they replace the evaporator in the dash and some other aircon components. Some get the smell back and some do not. I'll book it in, I'm just not keen on them dismantling my dashboard.

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Desert Rat

· #14 · Jul 18, 2016

For context below is a link to an 8 page post from NAM on this issue. Post 176 gives a description of the fix and the service bulletin number (M64 03 14).
It looks like the micro filter sits on the floor of the evap box over the drain and gets soaked with water causing the smell. They put a bead of hot glue on the bottom of the filter box to act like a spacer and raise it up so it doesn't get wet.

NAM Link

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Desert Rat

· #16 · Jul 18, 2016

From what I am reading, if the service tech does not put the bead of hot glue on the bottom of the filter to raise it up the smell will come back. Apparently the glue hardens and raises the filter up just enough to not cover the drain and get soaked

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