2002 Passate GLS AC Question

Each morning, when I turn on the AC, the air coming from the vents
smells vaguely like ass for about 1.5 minutes. After approx five
minutes, moisture starts coming from the vents in form of cold steam.
Then air stops flowing throught the vents. Turning off the AC for
about 5 minutes resolves the issue temporarily.

Any ideas?

"John Smallberries" > wrote in message
...
>Each morning, when I turn on the AC, the air coming from the vents smells
>vaguely like ass for about 1.5 minutes. After approx five minutes, moisture
>starts coming from the vents in form of cold steam. Then air stops flowing
>throught the vents. Turning off the AC for about 5 minutes resolves the
>issue temporarily.

Spray Lysol into the cabin air intake. You have mold/mildew growing in
there. It's not uncommon in humid climates (is it humid where you live?).

The other thing that helps prevent this in the future (after you do the
lysol thing) is to put the system into ECON mode (if Climatronic...or just
turn off the A/C button for non-Climatronic cars) for the last few minutes
before you park the car and you let un-air-conditioned air cycle through it.
I'm not sure I understand why (because A/C air is dehumidified and you'd
think it'd be drier) this works, but I find that I get less stinky air
coming out the vents upon restart if I run non-A/C air through the system
for a minute or two before parking the car for extended periods of time.

"John Smallberries" > wrote in message
...
>Each morning, when I turn on the AC, the air coming from the vents smells
>vaguely like ass for about 1.5 minutes. After approx five minutes, moisture
>starts coming from the vents in form of cold steam. Then air stops flowing
>throught the vents. Turning off the AC for about 5 minutes resolves the
>issue temporarily.

Spray Lysol into the cabin air intake while the system is running. You have
mold/mildew growing in there. It's not uncommon in humid climates (is it
humid where you live?).

The other thing that helps prevent this in the future (after you do the
lysol thing) is to put the system into ECON mode (if Climatronic...or just
turn off the A/C button for non-Climatronic cars) for the last few minutes
before you park the car and you let un-air-conditioned air cycle through it.
I'm not sure I understand why (because A/C air is dehumidified and you'd
think it'd be drier) this works, but I find that I get less stinky air
coming out the vents upon restart if I run non-A/C air through the system
for a minute or two before parking the car for extended periods of time.

It could be that the drain in the evaporator housing is clogged, and
that you are freezing ice in the evaporator. I don't know the exact
location of the drain on your car, but typically the drain comes out at
the front bottom edge of the evaporator housing and goes through the
firewall before bending downwards.

I am assuming your rear end does not smell like anti freeze (and if it
does I do not want to know why), but steam from the vents can be a
symptom of a heater core leak. The smell of antifreeze is easy to
recognize, though, so that is probably not the problem.


John Smallberries wrote:
>
> Each morning, when I turn on the AC, the air coming from the vents
> smells vaguely like ass for about 1.5 minutes. After approx five
> minutes, moisture starts coming from the vents in form of cold steam.
> Then air stops flowing throught the vents. Turning off the AC for
> about 5 minutes resolves the issue temporarily.
>
> Any ideas?