Foul Smell from Blower / Fan in swift

[kuttapan]

I started getting the smell after I left it at their A.S.S centre for a couple of days, I told them and they fixed it. No idea what they cleaned, I was in a hurry, so did not ask. Might be the a/c ducts.

[vebmetal]

Originally Posted by smith

seems lots of these cars are suffering from this problem. i discussed the same with our fellow bhpian pompi( id alankarmotor) who has a maruti sevicemasters at patna . i have written about him in some of my previous posts . for precisely this very problem subros the oe supplier of ac's to most of the indian car cos. took his advice & he managed to find the culprit & the cure. it has something to do with the quality of resistance (ceramic) used in these ac's. pm him & he will be able to sort it out. in fact i will ask him to post a detailed reply on this thread for the benifit of all u guys.

Originally Posted by alankarmotor

HI GUYS,this is a very tricky probelem which most of the technicians and service engineers have not been able to figure out. Fortunately we have diagonised. This happens because of the blower resistence ,every one of u who have faced this probelem will recall that this is prominent when blower is operated at lower speed mode. this is when the resistence gets heated up. The resister wire is covered with porcelene matrial, the smell comes from this matrial when heated. This explains why the smell goes off when the compressor is switched on because the resistence gets cooled.The resistence allso gets cooled when the blower is operated at higher speed. And when the blower is operated at max speed then this resistence is bypassed and will not cause smell.Vehicles that come with fin type resistence like FORD IKON etc.will not have this probelem.

Now we are getting somewhere!! Please do post more about what the problem is and more importantly, what the solution is. My car (Zen Estilo) is still under warranty (and really suffering from this problem!!!) and I would like to get it resolved while I can still make them do it for free.

[cyneverdie]

OWS air con clean OR gulf air con clean.
Both tried both real good , OWS is no 1 .
Plus do an ac service aka they clean your ac radiator and ac motor. Dont have a cabin air filter in my swift
bosch makes an advanced cabin air filter , with carbon , very nice .

PS : if your in a clean unpolluted place drive fast with all the windows down the blower on full and ac on ventilate mode - with OR/& without the ac on

[redfire]

The same issue is there in my VXi too. It happens when we enter the car and switch on the blower with recycling air after a long break / parking, especially in mornings. The technique I use is, open the side windows a few inches, put on the blower with fresh air option, then switch to recycling air after 1-2 minutes.

[smith]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

Now we are getting somewhere!! Please do post more about what the problem is and more importantly, what the solution is. My car (Zen Estilo) is still under warranty (and really suffering from this problem!!!) and I would like to get it resolved while I can still make them do it for free.

Vebmetal pm alankarmotor with details . I am sure he will be able to help you out .

[gigatech2006]

Hi guys, just stumbled upon this thread today afternoon..and was quite amazed to see that many are facing this problem which I thought was restricted to coastal regions. I live in Chennai where the humidity levels are very high..and adding to this I live close to the beach (actually less than 1/2 km!!), so can imagine the amount of humidity in air.

Coming to the point, my Accent used to give this weird smell as soon as I turn on the blower without switching on the A/C. It gets disgusting during summer months I was discussing about this problem with one of my friends who happens to be a chemical engineer and he gave a simple WONDERFUL solution to this...which would cost you Rs. 9/- Go to a grocery shop and ask for soda powder (Sodium Bicarbonate). Your mom/wife would be having this for sure in the kitchen..so check it out. Soooo..sodium bicarbonate absorbs moisture from air removing the dampness in the cabin. I leave a teaspoon of this in my car ..close to the gear or handbrake lever (use hand tissues..u might already have them in ur car!), say goodnight and go to bed! The next day morning, the powder will be kinda crystalline..i mean u can see that it has absorbed moisture..a little WET!

Hope this helps! For guys in Delhi and other non-humid places, I dunno how effective this will be..but worth a try!

cya!
giga

[narayan]

Originally Posted by alankarmotor

HI GUYS,this is a very tricky probelem which most of the technicians and service engineers have not been able to figure out. Fortunately we have diagonised. This happens because of the blower resistence ,every one of u who have faced this probelem will recall that this is prominent when blower is operated at lower speed mode. this is when the resistence gets heated up. The resister wire is covered with porcelene matrial, the smell comes from this matrial when heated. This explains why the smell goes off when the compressor is switched on because the resistence gets cooled.The resistence allso gets cooled when the blower is operated at higher speed. And when the blower is operated at max speed then this resistence is bypassed and will not cause smell.Vehicles that come with fin type resistence like FORD IKON etc.will not have this probelem.

hi alankar - im not sure this could be the only reason..
even in my car , a OHC 1.5 , im facing this problem for last 4-6 months

1) the foul smell actually is similar to smell of dirty socks ( not i dont drive around with dirty socks in the car ! )
2) before this problem happened, i noticed in the blower vents, many pieces of dark coloured sponge. when i tried taking these out through the gap in the vents, they just crumbled to a fine powder ! - now what is this sponge that was coming out ?
3) these days, when im passing through any place which has a strong rotten smell, then i get the smell, even if my windows are up and a/c is running
4) like all said, i get this problem when blower is running and not with a/c. and i get it even if blower is at full speed

im a bit curious about what that sponge was ? would u know ?

[alankarmotor]

HI, in your case the foam particals which are seen are coming from the fresh/recirculating flap. The flap in the HVAC system which either allows fresh air or the air in the cabin to recirculate is lined by a thin layer of foam, after few years of usage this foam tends to come of from this flap,thus not fully clossing the fresh air vent. This is allso the reason for the smell outside the car coming in. Go to a A/C technisian and ask to take out the blower assy and paste some fresh foam on the flap. remember the thickness of the new foam should be same as the old one other wise the lever on the dash will not function properly.

Originally Posted by narayan

hi alankar - im not sure this could be the only reason..
even in my car , a OHC 1.5 , im facing this problem for last 4-6 months

1) the foul smell actually is similar to smell of dirty socks ( not i dont drive around with dirty socks in the car ! )
2) before this problem happened, i noticed in the blower vents, many pieces of dark coloured sponge. when i tried taking these out through the gap in the vents, they just crumbled to a fine powder ! - now what is this sponge that was coming out ?
3) these days, when im passing through any place which has a strong rotten smell, then i get the smell, even if my windows are up and a/c is running
4) like all said, i get this problem when blower is running and not with a/c. and i get it even if blower is at full speed

im a bit curious about what that sponge was ? would u know ?

[alankarmotor]

HI,VEBMETAL please take your car to the dealer for this under wtty. my nick name is POMPY and my nos. are 09835020200/09334116002 and get the person attending the car speak to me. I would be able to help u better.

Originally Posted by vebmetal

Now we are getting somewhere!! Please do post more about what the problem is and more importantly, what the solution is. My car (Zen Estilo) is still under warranty (and really suffering from this problem!!!) and I would like to get it resolved while I can still make them do it for free.

[kuttapan]

The crappy smell in my car is back. I talked to a guy in Maruti and he tells me there is no permanent solution !!

He asked me to use fresh air mode for 2 minutes everytime and then switch to recirculation.

[mahadev_kc]

My problem is different: As soon as I switch on AC (recirculation mode) for some 30 mins or 1 hour, afterwords, I'll have cold, running nose and sneezing. BTW, car is Palio 1.6.

What is the problem?

[Ajay_J]

Originally Posted by mahadev_kc

My problem is different: As soon as I switch on AC (recirculation mode) for some 30 mins or 1 hour, afterwords, I'll have cold, running nose and sneezing. BTW, car is Palio 1.6.

What is the problem?

Mahadev, You are getting old . No problem with car I guess. take chavanprash regularly, that may help.

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by mahadev_kc

My problem is different: As soon as I switch on AC (recirculation mode) for some 30 mins or 1 hour, afterwords, I'll have cold, running nose and sneezing. BTW, car is Palio 1.6.

What is the problem?

I used to have the same issue. Solution Run on AC 2 for 5-10 mins and switch it back to position 1 and let the air flow towards your feet.

Solution 2. Have Chawanprash

Solution 3: Others might suggest

[srishiva]

mahadev, Could be some allergens, get the system cleaned.
You are definitely not getting old, your car is.

By the way, what would a Bosch carbon cabin filter cost ? And where would one get this in Bangalore ? Any issues fitting this ?

[Rotorhead]

smell is because of stale air being recirculated and also any dust or fungus accumulated in the ac system. some of the cars have good filters to filter the air being circulated. The sneezing and cold is most probably due to the presence of allergens in the air..mostly pollens and stuff......