New(ish) leaf, broken A/C, bad smell

[gustavo]

So I got my leaf in April. I live in the pacific northwest, and it doesn't really get warm here until July (June was pretty much a bust this year). As a result, I drove for a few months not noticing something: the A/C in my new car doesn't work.

Once it started to get warm, I thought "man this A/C is terrible. Well, it's an electric car - so I guess that's another tradeoff." That mindset prevailed until I got into a friends leaf, and realized that his A/C rocks. In fact, it was better I think that any A/C I've had in any gas car. OK off to the dealer... This is where the problems really start...

Dealer takes a look. Confirms, yep your A/C is broken. High pressure hose leaks, ordered a new one, but it's on back order... 2-3 weeks probably. Eventually, finally, the hose arrives I take it in, they have the car all day. I go to pick it up. "It's blowing cold now - he ran it all day to be sure!" Fantastic. In fact it was blowing cool. Awesome. Except when I get in it, I notice water dripping from around what would normally be a transmission tunnel - way back there. I ask the service adviser... Oh, they washed the car, sorry about that I'll have a talk with them. I'm skeptical. It appears water is dripping down, but he assures me - they did nothing on the inside of the car, it was all the hose between the compressor and coil in the motor bay.

I drive home. Water is now gushing out at a high rate. It's Friday night, they're about to close I call them. He says come on back down, he'll make sure the service tech doesn't go home. I get there.... They take in the back, and 30 minutes or so he returns... "Did the A/C ever work in this car?" "Nope, I don't think it did." "It couldn't have, not without you noticing it. The hose that takes the drip water condensate was never hooked up at the factor, it was just laying there. We hooked it up and I patted down the carpet to get the water up. Just keep the windows cracked to let it dry out so you don't run into any problems."

Deal. I don't want a stinky car. So I keep the window cracked, and Sunday go to drive it and wow. It stinks. It stinks bad. Like super bad. I call them up, tell them, and really to be honest, the dealer has been pretty good about this - they say "Bring it in tomorrow, we'll fix it." They normally charge for loaners but they gave me one for free. Overall I'm not upset. The factory clearly did a poor job of QC before my car left.

I pick it up, and it smells like detergent - but that's better than mold. I drive for the next couple of months, it's OK but frankly it's never smelled right... But now, for the last week, it just smells like garbage. It's not old food, or spilled milk or anything like that (I don't have kids!). I'm convinced it's from the original water damage and I don't know where to go from here. I can't pinpoint the smell from my nose.

So folks - where would you go about trying to pinpoint the smell? Should I try to sort this out with Nissan directly? Go back to the dealer (it's going back next week anyways, for parts falling off the car problems anyway)? Any advice would be appreciated.

Gustavo,
The guy with the stinky car.

 

[DoctorSaul]

So I got my leaf in April. I live in the pacific northwest, and it doesn't really get warm here until July (June was pretty much a bust this year). As a result, I drove for a few months not noticing something: the A/C in my new car doesn't work.

Once it started to get warm, I thought "man this A/C is terrible. Well, it's an electric car - so I guess that's another tradeoff." That mindset prevailed until I got into a friends leaf, and realized that his A/C rocks. In fact, it was better I think that any A/C I've had in any gas car. OK off to the dealer... This is where the problems really start...

Dealer takes a look. Confirms, yep your A/C is broken. High pressure hose leaks, ordered a new one, but it's on back order... 2-3 weeks probably. Eventually, finally, the hose arrives I take it in, they have the car all day. I go to pick it up. "It's blowing cold now - he ran it all day to be sure!" Fantastic. In fact it was blowing cool. Awesome. Except when I get in it, I notice water dripping from around what would normally be a transmission tunnel - way back there. I ask the service adviser... Oh, they washed the car, sorry about that I'll have a talk with them. I'm skeptical. It appears water is dripping down, but he assures me - they did nothing on the inside of the car, it was all the hose between the compressor and coil in the motor bay.

I drive home. Water is now gushing out at a high rate. It's Friday night, they're about to close I call them. He says come on back down, he'll make sure the service tech doesn't go home. I get there.... They take in the back, and 30 minutes or so he returns... "Did the A/C ever work in this car?" "Nope, I don't think it did." "It couldn't have, not without you noticing it. The hose that takes the drip water condensate was never hooked up at the factor, it was just laying there. We hooked it up and I patted down the carpet to get the water up. Just keep the windows cracked to let it dry out so you don't run into any problems."

Deal. I don't want a stinky car. So I keep the window cracked, and Sunday go to drive it and wow. It stinks. It stinks bad. Like super bad. I call them up, tell them, and really to be honest, the dealer has been pretty good about this - they say "Bring it in tomorrow, we'll fix it." They normally charge for loaners but they gave me one for free. Overall I'm not upset. The factory clearly did a poor job of QC before my car left.

I pick it up, and it smells like detergent - but that's better than mold. I drive for the next couple of months, it's OK but frankly it's never smelled right... But now, for the last week, it just smells like garbage. It's not old food, or spilled milk or anything like that (I don't have kids!). I'm convinced it's from the original water damage and I don't know where to go from here. I can't pinpoint the smell from my nose.

So folks - where would you go about trying to pinpoint the smell? Should I try to sort this out with Nissan directly? Go back to the dealer (it's going back next week anyways, for parts falling off the car problems anyway)? Any advice would be appreciated.

Gustavo,
The guy with the stinky car.

It's the mold developing from when the carpet got wet that is reemerging and stinks (apparently lots of Leafs (Leaves?) were delivered with disconnected drains from the A/C condenser and suffered the same problem of drainage water collecting in the car). Easy fix is to spray the area that previously got wet with Lysol spray (be sure its the one that has antibacterial/antifungal/antivirus activity). Really saturate the area with the Lysol spray.... should end the odor problem.

You could go back to the dealer to have them fix the problem... but it's such an easy fix you may want to do it yourself.

 

[user 10599]

It's the mold developing from when the carpet got wet that is reemerging and stinks (apparently lots of Leafs (Leaves?) were delivered with disconnected drains from the A/C condenser and suffered the same problem of drainage water collecting in the car). .

I noticed his profile indicates delivery in January 2013. Was this one of the earlier models to come from TN? When exactly did they switch the factories?

Mine arrived at the dealer 7/31. Haven't noticed anything wrong with it yet (6 weeks and 1,600 miles so far).

 

[LeftieBiker]

You're going to need new carpeting. I'd advise against using large amounts of Lysol, as it's pretty toxic, irritating stuff. The dealer caused the mold problem even though the original fault was at the factory, so they should be replacing all the carpeting. If not, look for an independent shop to install factory carpeting - it will be less expensive.

Our 2010 Prius got inexplicably, soaking wet after one of the hurricanes, even though it wasn't driven in water. A huge amount of water was involved, and the dealer first blamed us for "taking the car off-road", then after we vehemently denied that, they claimed a spider had built a web in the A/C drain, and it wasn't Toyota's fault. Toyota backed them up! Bottom line: they wanted $1700 for new carpeting. We got Toyota carpeting installed at an indie shop for $700. The only reason we even considered another Prius was that I haven't found any other instances of this happening - it appears to have been a fluke...

 

[ksnogas2112]

It's the mold developing from when the carpet got wet that is reemerging and stinks (apparently lots of Leafs (Leaves?) were delivered with disconnected drains from the A/C condenser and suffered the same problem of drainage water collecting in the car). .

I noticed his profile indicates delivery in January 2013. Was this one of the earlier models to come from TN? When exactly did they switch the factories?

Mine arrived at the dealer 7/31. Haven't noticed anything wrong with it yet (6 weeks and 1,600 miles so far).

Darth,
All the US MY 13's are from TN.

 

[Petecomp1]

Info for the OP: My '13 Leaf, new in March, A/C works well, but if I try to run just vent fan without AC (CC off, fan on 3 or 4 bars), it stinks like the floor of the men's room in a biker bar on Saturday night (don't ask how I know that). Sounds like my condensate is accumulating somewhere it shouldn't. Hasn't been enough of a problem to motivate me to call the dealer... yet. If anyone knows what is causing this, I'd be grateful for the information.
Pete

 

[LeftieBiker]

Not a cure, but a treatment for the symptoms that is less toxic: mix vodka, water and some apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray it into the intake for the Climate control, avoiding the plastic bits around it. Run the CC with you outside the car for about 10 minutes. This will kill and suppress mold.

 

[derkraut]

Not a cure, but a treatment for the symptoms that is less toxic: mix vodka, water and some apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray it into the intake for the Climate control, avoiding the plastic bits around it. Run the CC with you outside the car for about 10 minutes. This will kill and suppress mold.

And...if that doesn't work, just drink the Vodka, and throw out the water and apple cider vinegar. :lol:

 

[LeftieBiker]

I first wrote that treatment up as a "FAQ" for the alt.autos.volvo newsgroup, years ago. Believe it or not, you are not the first with that response. ;-)

 

[jelloslug]

If your car continues to smell like mold after they repaired the AC it they did not fit the issue. Mold simply will not grow without water, end of story. If you are still getting mold you still have water.

 

[UBUYGAS]

I'd call Nissan and tell them that the factory never connected your AC drain and now you're growing mold in your carpet and you don't want your family to have to sue them after you are dead.

Time for them to replace the carpet or replace the LEAF!

 

[LeftieBiker]

If your car continues to smell like mold after they repaired the AC it they did not fit the issue. Mold simply will not grow without water, end of story. If you are still getting mold you still have water.

There is usually enough moisture in the air for established mold to survive, and the carpet can stay wet for a very, very long time as well. It's a case of "once moldy, never clean" not "end of story."

 

[jelloslug]

If your car continues to smell like mold after they repaired the AC it they did not fit the issue. Mold simply will not grow without water, end of story. If you are still getting mold you still have water.

There is usually enough moisture in the air for established mold to survive, and the carpet can stay wet for a very, very long time as well. It's a case of "once moldy, never clean" not "end of story."

That is never the case. Mold has to have a constant supply of water to live. Unless you live in a tropical rain forest and never shut the doors there is not enough moisture in the air to cause mold to grow.

 

[LeftieBiker]

If your car continues to smell like mold after they repaired the AC it they did not fit the issue. Mold simply will not grow without water, end of story. If you are still getting mold you still have water.

There is usually enough moisture in the air for established mold to survive, and the carpet can stay wet for a very, very long time as well. It's a case of "once moldy, never clean" not "end of story."

That is never the case. Mold has to have a constant supply of water to live. Unless you live in a tropical rain forest and never shut the doors there is not enough moisture in the air to cause mold to grow.

You are equating "survive" with "grow." It doesn't have to grow to make the car stink. It just has to survive, and mold is fairly hardy in that environment. We've actually experienced this situation. Have you?

 

[jelloslug]

You are equating "survive" with "grow." It doesn't have to grow to make the car stink. It just has to survive, and mold is fairly hardy in that environment. We've actually experienced this situation. Have you?

Who has not had a leaky car at some point it time? I can tell you that if the car still stinks months after the "repair" then there is still water getting in.

 

[bowthom]

Hello,
I worked the minor line at Cadillac for years. The ONLY way to insure a good job is to remove the carpet, clean it from both sides and clean the floor pan. Let it dry thoroughly by hanging it vertically (dries faster). It takes a couple days.
You will never get rid of the smell otherwise. They should have done that early on then no mold would have got started.

Don

 

[Nubo]

How do you "remove" the carpeting in LEAF? Isn't it some type of spray-on stuff?

 

[gustavo]

I'd like to thank you all for your replies. I'm going to weigh my options and talk to the dealer. The problem is that the smell comes in and out. I mean I can have 3 days where it just stinks super bad for no reason then a couple days of no smell at all, then back to stinkfest. It's driving me nuts :/ It's hard to decide which is worse: having a stinky car or a wife whose eying you as if you did something.

I'm almost inclined to think that maybe it's not draining completely / properly. I live in the pacific northwest - and it seems that the smell is tracking moisture in the air. E.g. when the a/c runs to keep the car from fogging up, all of that water is condensing on the cold side of the coil, and maybe not draining completely (either that or the ambient air/moisture is feeding the mold?).

 

[nonleafeater]

I work at an Infiniti dealer. The only way to do the job right is to remove the carpet, thoroughly clean the floor, and clean or replace the carpet. Carpet replacement should be covered under warranty since the cause of the moldy carpet was a warrantable defect.

 

[Phatcat73]

Call Nissan direct. They are very sensitive to QC issues. They treated me like a king when the back seat of my SV was discovered to be leather (SL).