Smelly Aircon for new Merc

[Loc]

Hi All, 

I am new to the forum, and just collected my GLC 200 about a month ago. After 2 weeks the aircon starts to give a very strange garbage like smell when we just start the car but it will go off after 1 min. 

Sent back to CnC, the technician told us we have the smell because we carry food in the car and that Merc's aircon is special. He also ask us try not to carry food in the car so that next the aircon will not stink. 

Does anyone have the same experience and really, our Merc is not suppose to carry food??

[Josh21]

I've been driving for the past few months, and don't have the same issue. 

I've had takeaways in the car before, so i'm sure that's not the reason for the smell in yours. 

[vectrasonic]

Change cabin filter will solve the problem.

I changed every 6 months or start to have smell.

[mecedesfish]

carfrom my past experience, try not to park near or underneath a man hole parking lots.

I remember that after I have parked (below a covered round man hole), the follow day whenever I started the aircon, a very bad smell.

 I don't think carry food may have cause the smell.

[Loc]

6 hours ago, vectrasonic said:

Change cabin filter will solve the problem.

I changed every 6 months or start to have smell.

Is it something we can do ourselves or need to send it back to the AD to do? 

thanks! 

[vectrasonic]

DIY. Not difficult to me as long as u have the right tool.

W204 cabin filter is below the glove compartment. just have to unscrew 3 screws before getting to the filter.

You can always go Youtube to search for it.

OEM filter is only about $25.

[aling]

On 1/9/2018 at 5:01 PM, Loc said:

Hi All, 

I am new to the forum, and just collected my GLC 200 about a month ago. After 2 weeks the aircon starts to give a very strange garbage like smell when we just start the car but it will go off after 1 min. 

Sent back to CnC, the technician told us we have the smell because we carry food in the car and that Merc's aircon is special. He also ask us try not to carry food in the car so that next the aircon will not stink. 

Does anyone have the same experience and really, our Merc is not suppose to carry food??

Cannot carry food in car?! Then why buy car? They need a better excuse.....

[joecamel]

used to have this issue, disabled the auto start-stop and smell beginning to go away.

when the engine stops, the ac capacity decreases, resulting in condensation which may lead to mold in the ac vents.

also try to park car in a well ventilated place too, like someone mentioned earlier. dont know why car seems to trap moisture.

try to drive car w windows down and ac on and temp set to hi for about 10 minutes on the expressway to help eliminate the smell.

hope this helps.

[Loc]

thanks all, it sure helps, looks like the service centre guy is just trying to pull a fast one on us. 

[hweebs]

I have the same problem with my CLA. Smelly for about 1 minute when just starting the car. Thinking of changing the cabin filter. 

On 10/01/2018 at 4:58 PM, vectrasonic said:

DIY. Not difficult to me as long as u have the right tool.

W204 cabin filter is below the glove compartment. just have to unscrew 3 screws before getting to the filter.

You can always go Youtube to search for it.

OEM filter is only about $25.

Hi Vectrasonic, may I know where's the place we can purchase the OEM filter for DIY replacement? Thanks.

[vectrasonic]

Can buy from Golden Link. 

[fergo84]

On 10/01/2018 at 9:11 AM, vectrasonic said:

Change cabin filter will solve the problem.

I changed every 6 months or start to have smell.

i had this problem as well. changed the filter and the smell was gone but not for long. i guess with the humidity levels we have in this country, having mouldy smell is inevitable. 

on my previous car, many complaint abt this. BMW HQ Germany responded to us saying to run the aircon on fan mode for approx 5-10mins before shutting down for long periods. this kinda dries off moisture within the system. and periodically (once a week), run the aircon on high temp, full blast for 10-15mins using heat to kill the mould build up. 

doesnt solve the issue entirely but i found that it delays the smell from building up. (meaning you change ur filter less frequently)

i have also read it somewhere that tree leaves build up and over time it rots. n typically leaves will build up near where the air comes in from the outside to the aircon system hence the mouldy smell. (so i try to avoid parking under trees that have those tiny leaves which makes it difficult and tedious to remove)

some of the little things i do to prevent this mouldy smell. does it help? to be honest, i dun know. i just do my part to minimise the possibility of it building up.

[dchum]

occasionally once every two months or so remove the filter and vacuum it and remove leaves / twigs etc. Smell will disappear for a while or at least reduce. Also you check if you closed the air circulation vents as the smell may come from outside.