What to do when your car’s ventilation smells bad?

No matter how thoroughly you clean your car’s interior, is there a bad smell coming from the vents every time you start it up?

Don’t worry, you’re not any dirtier than others, and your beautiful car is not rotting from the inside. This “bad breath” often appears during seasonal changes, as we are experiencing quite abruptly these past few days with a strong presence of Spring.

An unpleasant odor in the vehicle is often simply related to your air conditioning. The “simply” may surprise you because this system is complex and completely hidden in the car, leading us to mistakenly believe that only a professional can intervene when there’s a problem. This is not true for most cars.

The air conditioning system fosters, with the moisture it generates, the proliferation of bacteria that cause these bad odors. There’s no need to flood the car with air freshener; once established, these bacteria will always emit the same smell with each “activation” of the system. But fortunately, they are mainly localized on one component of the ventilation system, the cabin filter. And the latter is very accessible. To remedy the problem, get a cleaning and purifying product that you can find at any good service station and follow this little guide:

• Locate the cabin filter or pollen filter. It is often placed behind the glove compartment; refer to the car’s manual to find its location and how to access it. Rest assured, there’s no need to remove it!
• Turn on the ignition, set the ventilation to cold, and spray the product at the filter location for about a minute after having opened the windows properly.
• Turn off the ignition and let the product act for about 5 minutes.
• Ventilate the vehicle for about thirty minutes and turn on the ventilation to see if the problem is resolved. If not, repeat once or twice at most.

If the problem persists, sadly you will have to head to the garage to change the filter or, at a minimum, have it cleaned by a professional. If possible, wait for the next maintenance check and request it.

READ ALSO: Air conditioning is expanding in public transport