My daughter's 4yr old hybrid Yaris has suddenly (as in okay last week but not used frequently) started producing wet dog stinky smells through the ventilation system. No warning lights, exhaust smells fine.
No sign of cat pee on the windscreen/air intakes. Is this just aircon mould? Puzzled as to why it should okay one week and then smelly the next.
Not uncommon. Best way I found was to switch it off before the end of the journey so the heat exchanger was flushed through with clean air before stopping the system. How you do that depends on the type. On mine there is an eco button which stops the compressor but leaves the fans running. Some say Febreeze etc sprayed into the intake helps too.
It is surprising how quickly they can become disgusting- it doesn?t always seem to be time/use related.
I make a point of changing ours every year. I nearly also have the A/c on, in the winter it helps clear the windscreen etc. The difference between the muck etc between the highest and lowest mileage vehicles is minimal.
r134 gas does not have a slight smell, but not unpleasant and it disappears within moments, the yaris hybrid doesn't use that gas, it has r1234yf which is very different and does contain propane, which definitely smells unpleasant. (it is also mega expensive and has a risk of fire in a crash situation)
Interesting. Do you mean it has some propane or it is entirely propane?
While not the best thing to have around in and accident, the quantity is small and certainly much smaller than the petrol in a petrol tank.
They add Meracaptan to LPG ( and natural gas) to make it smell. There was another chemical sometimes uses thiopene I think but, AFAIK, that isn?t used now.
If you have the appropriate collision sensitive cutoff sensors and hose failure detectors, you can operate gas heating while driving in motorhomes these days. Ours has the capability but we don?t do it, we find the normal vehicle heating adequate but I suspect some, perhaps with children sitting in the rear seats, may find it useful. Oddly I don?t think it is legal to operate the fridge on gas while driving, even though the flame is not only enclosed but smaller. Certainly they switch to 12V, even if gas is available once the engine on is detected.
Our previous one was. The new MH can be switched to auto and will ( I think) pick mains first, then gas, unless the ignition is on in which case it is 12V. Manual is mains, gas but I think auto 12 V.
Supposedly when on 12V they don?t actually cool just maintain but on our first trip in our old MH we?d put some water in the ice cube tray and, after a 2hr drive, we had ice cubes.
They certainly are very sensitive to being level, or not level, even on electric. Any more than a few degrees and they don?t cool.
Some have compressor beasts but most rely on absorption.
The really old ones had to be manually lit when on gas. I understand they could be s*ds to light if not properly maintained;-)
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.