S40 (New) AC : Mildew smell but....

[janusz]

Okay, I am well aware of the problems with mildew, fungus and bacteria in aircon. However, I am not aware of any such issues in "regular" air blower when the aircon is off. Here is the problem:
When the aircon is on the air smells just fine, as soon as I switch it off mildew smell appears. Car was serviced 2 months ago and filters were replaced I believe as a part of the service. There was no problem earlier (and I own the car since 2012) - just discovered it today.
Any ideas what may be causing above?
I have purchased aircon cleaner "bomb" and going to get carbon pollen filter but... I am not sure if that will help.
Any ideas?

[Welton]

When the a/c is on the smell reduces because the bacteria is less active when chilled.

You would benefit from a new pollen filter (get a volvo one Multi Filter with the carbon layer).

Those air con cleaner tins are alright but rarely work in my experience. You can get the cabin 'ultrasonically' cleaned which is a permanent fix (a few years) this could be worth checking out, it's the sort of service that a Mercedes dealer would carry out.

As a temporary fix you could try heating the air ducts by running the interior heating to max for as long as possible, this is enough to kill a percentage of the bacteria but no a 'fix' as such.

[janusz]

Thank you Welton.
Is pollen filter replaced during service at volvo dealer? Car was serviced two monthso ago...

[IainG]

Hi
Should be listed on your service invoice if it was.
Iain

[janusz]

Looks like volvo dealers are offering aircon clean for 39£

[janusz]

Okay, quick update. Been to Parkside Volvo instead of Caffyns Eastbourne (where I usually go) due to lack of time. Left the car with technician for an hour. When I got the car back, aircon was blowing citrus scented air. Not bad I thought, perhaps smelly aircon problem will be solved for quite a while. Than was on Thursday. 3 days later the mildew smell is back. For 39£ I would expect the fresh scent to last much longer.
Going back to dealers now... :/

[Welton]

Ask them about Ultrasonic Cleaning.

[oragex]

I had the same issue, nasty smell for about 1-2 minutes after turning off the a/c. Started this spring, after using the a/c 2-3 times during past winter. What I did to fix this, is have the a/c on for a couple of minutes, then turn it off and blew warm/hot air at higher speed. Did this a couple of times, now the smell is mostly gone when the a/c shuts off.

[janusz]

Yeah they used ultrasonic cleaning. Something is definitely not right as I was not expecting the cleaning to last just a few days.
Here's the link to the offer:
http://www.volvocarsorpington.co.uk/...easonal_check/

[Wetbench4]

Do you have a sunroof?? Same happened to my 05 s40, turned out that there's a design flaw on the sunroof models which causes the sunroof drains to block causing water to enter the cabin. I only noticed because of the smell at first, but it turns out my passenger drain was blocked and the carpet underlay was soaking. The carpet was dry to touch so it isn't always easy to spot straight away. Pain in the arse, as i ended up taking the whole rear carpet section out and it took about a week and half to dry.