Damp Smell

[koolade]

Hi All

A few months in now, owning my XC90 T8 R-Design '67 plate. We bought the car in the summer (Aug) and now we're in Autumn and we've had a lot of rain recently, we've noticed a damp smell in the car.

Admittedly we haven't checked every nook and cranny, but I was wondering if anyone knew what causes this smell and assuming it is a leak and not something else, if there are any common spots to check if water is leaking in?

I've pinged our local Volvo garage but thought I'd ask here!
Thanks!

[nu11eaf]

Aircon drain pipe and sunroof drain are possible leak points, earlier spa cars had a TJ recall to fix a potential aircon drain problem.

[volvocamper]

Does the smell appear especially strong when the windscreen washers are deployed? There was a thread on here very recently where Clan commented that the Volvo supplied washer additive contains an anti bacterial agent which can help prevent smells from the washer bottle - may be worth taking filler cap off and having a sniff?

[koolade]

Thanks both!

No - no correlation between the windscreen wash and smell. Convinced its a sneaky leak somewhere

[taylora]

Do you leave the AC on all the time?

[koolade]

Nope. Havent needed to really. Its almost definitely a leak since the smell is strongest when its been raining heavily

[taylora]

If you can't find any signs of dampness then I would suggest leaving your climate on auto with the AC on all the time. If the smell is still there then an aircon service might help.

Damp smells in a car often come from the AC not being used regularly. I leave mine on all the time and it never smells.

Other people I know who switch on/off have a damp odour about their car caused by bacteria build up as a result of not using the AC. That is really hard to get rid of.

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by koolade

Nope. Havent needed to really. Its almost definitely a leak since the smell is strongest when its been raining heavily

I would strongly advise you to leave the climate control/aircon on auto all the time, it is better for the system and de-humidifies the car, keeps the glass clear of fogging up and prevents odours. You may still have water ingress somewhere but unlikely, as mentioned earlier sunroof drains can block but not usually on newish cars, and the aircon drain is another posible leak point but as you have not been using it I would not think that is the problem.
My Landrover Defender has aircon and it is a seperate unit to the heater so it cant be put on auto and too cold to leave on all the time and is gets a musty damp odour if just the fan is used, putting it on cool the smell goes away. Try putting your climate on auto.