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Strong smell from vents when a/c is on

22K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  191145 
#1 ·
Hey guys, does any one has experience a strong odor (chemicals) coming from the vents when the A/C is on?

Also, only happens when is in circulation mode and at the lowest setting/speed of the vent.

The smell comes and goes but when is on, is extremely strong.
Do you know the smell from the interior of a brand new vehicle? Well, the smell is at least 20 times stronger.

I usually have the vent facing my face (very hot in my area) and I have the vent at a high speed. But when the car cools off I lower the vent to the lowest speed and that's when the odor comes in. I have to raise the speed of the fan or change the air settings, from circulation to grab air fro outside.

Let me know if anyone is experiencing the same problem or keep on eye on the details I provided above.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
My Sporty has the usual new car smell which is slowly going away after a few weeks. No smell coming from the air cond vent in both fresh air and re-circ mode. What you are describing is not normal. Might pay to visit dealer. Sounded like some residual chemical in the air hose from production perhaps.

I did have an episode with another car where the dealer put some "crap" stuff in the windscreen washer reservoir since new. After a few weeks the air conds vent was emitting a very bad odour in fresh air mode whenever I am using the windscreen washer. I ended up have to drain and fill the reservoir 3 times to get rid of the odour. What a task.
 
#3 ·
silver; how old is your EX? As a rule, you should go to fresh air only a few minutes into cooling the hot car. If you have the auto climate, simply let it do its thing.
Anyway, since a Freon leak would not give you a strong odor, and there are no other chemicals involved, the smell is most likely from a growth of mildew in the evaporator tray. This is something you want to get fixed soon. The first step is to verify the condensate drain is working, then a foaming cleaner/disinfectant is used in the evaporator area behind the dash. This is more likely on a car a year old or more. If you have a new car (less than 90 days), it might just be the 'new car smell', maybe 'amplified' by over-use of the RECIRC button.
 
#4 ·
The EX is two weeks old, less than 400 miles.
Also, yesterday the smell developed into an oily smell even when the air was coming from outside (not in recirc mode) yes it began to smell like oil.

Any how, the EX is going in on Tuesday for service. I'll keep you posted.
 
#6 ·
Hi Silverboy,
Please keep us posted on any updates. I just got my SX last week and i am having that strong plastic smell you described on recirc mode.
I talked to the dealer and they said to give it another week or two since it is a new car and if the smell do not go away to bring it so they can check it.
I doubt that the smell will go away. Could it be something stuck in the filter?
 
#10 ·
The smell comes when driving in recirc mode. It comes like almost 2 minutes after driving it. It just comes out directly from the vents and it is really strong.
Also, when I'm at a stop and getting the air from outside, the smell switches to an oily smell.

Anywho, I got a A/C specialist at my local dealership looked at it yesterday. He told me that he'll removed the refrigerant and check for other things as well. He smelled the oil as well.
Dealership was good and Kia is paying for a rental till the Sportage is fix.

I got lots of new cars in the past and none had that smell, so hopefully they'll fix it.

I'll keep you posted.
 
#7 ·
my sx is three months old now with almost 8000 km and the smell you are talking about does go away. It takes a while. My car smelled like the car show room for at least 6 weeks and still does a little sometimes when I leave it sitting in the sun and the interior is hot, but it does diminish.

its from all the new materials out-gassing various compounds. You will see some crud accumulating on the inside of your wind shield as well from this stuff coming out of the dash.

A pita but nothing to worry about. It will go away. in the mean time enjoy your "new car smell" :)

However it is one hell of a car so far.....
 
#8 ·
Thank you Sloppy, for your quick responce. That sureley is releaving to know. As you said when sitting in the sun for a while i do get that strong smell while i liked the new car smell in the begining it is just overwhelming sometimes. I will give it a couple of weeks and see what happens.

It is surely a hell of a car.
 
#19 ·
Thank you copter7 and zipit555 for your comments.

Update, I sent about six emails to six top KIA executives describing the awful experience I had to endure instead of enjoying the new purchase. No one responded but the VP called the stealership that threaded me poorly.
Later this morning I received a phone call from the general manager of that stealership apologizing and going on and on. He asked me to give them a chance to make it right and to let them work on the issue, I said "thanks but no thanks."
Can you imagine being the service manager of that stealership, getting you rear end chew and then working on my car, no thanks.

So I guess upper management did something because I got a call later this morning from another upper team (so many teams is hard to keep track) and they were all over me. They approved a car loaner and I drove for almost an hour to a different stealership where they will work on the issue.

So when I got there I insisted in driving the Sportage with a tech, well initially the tech said no because he stated that he was advised about the issue by a Kia tech and he didn't wanted to be exposed to some of the flammable chemicals mix in the A/C.
Yes, can you imagine those words coming from the tech guy?
Well, he finally agreed to ride with me and he smelled something like a bleach and other stuff. He assured me that he will work on getting it fix.

S#it happens and I'm OK with the A/C problem, I know they will fix it, however, dealing with all that BS, loss of time and aggravation was the worst part. I'll keep that in mind in the future on my next or family purchase.

I'll keep you posted.

Thank you in advance guys for your input.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Silverboy. I really feel for you. We all buy new cars to avoid/get away from troubles. Instead you seem to get get into this strange problem and get rude treatment from your dealer. All cars and makes have problems regardless of the reliability record and reputation. It is the putting it right that counts at the end of day. Your dealer has failed big time in being really rude to you.

Your case is definitely a strange one. It sounds like the car materials have contained much more VOC and/or there is a leak of oil/exhaust somewhere. Getting a headache and/or sore throats are classic symptoms of inhaling too much VOC. These are serious symptoms which should not be dismissed. It is conceivable that due to some kind of manufacturing problem, you particularity car left the factory with too much VOC.

Do you have a local outfit which tests dangerous fumes? In my country, the fire service/fire station personnel is trained to deal with poisonous fumes, gas leaks etc. These professionals might be able to give you a second opinion on what the fumes might be inside the car.
 
#26 ·
Thanks for the update. Yes, you could definitely smell oil with a pressure leak anywhere on the AC system inside the car. However, it's a ridiculous quantum leap to go from there to dying in the car from Phosgene gas. It has never happened and never will.
 
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