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.
Tim
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.
Also, possibly a blocked drainage hole in the "air-box"? Or something like a mouse has crawled in there and died?
First change the cabin filter, then get an air con cleaner aerosol and set it off as per instructions.
This time of year also check from dead leaves that have been drawn into the cabin air intake and may have started to rot.
None of those. Air intake grills clear.
Tim
Thanks. I?ll try that. Does aircon refrigerant smell? Could it be a leak from the condenser?
Tim
^^^^^^This. It's the dampish weather. Get something like
No, the refrigerant doesn't smell.
Agreed. Changing the filters is the key.
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.
That reminds me, I need to order some filters....
I watched some using one of those DIY top up gizmos, he leaked a bit but I didn?t notice a smell.
Plus, if it has leaked the a/c won?t feel cool.
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)
Propane is perhaps one of the cheapest gases you can get. I'm surprised they don't use butane which is of lower pressure when liquid than propane.
Propane shouldn't smell by itself. Propane in gas bottles has mercaptans added which certainly has a pungent smell.
That statement doesn?t make sense.
the yaris hybrid doesn't use that gas, it has
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.
sorry , take out the 'not'
it is a mix of several gases including propane iirc
Depends how ?old school? your fridge is. Ours is manually selected.
Tim
OK, that makes sense. Easy error.
Hmm, I wonder why.
I can see it would probably work as a refrigerant but not and obvious choice.
I suppose it could be as simple as the smell!
As I recall you can use propane alone as a refrigerant, I haven't tried it though. The new 1234yf gas is more eco friendly.
Indeed.
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;-)
I had one where you had a long strip that slid from front to the back of the fridge carrying a lit match to light it.
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