chemical like smell from front vent

[quack724]

We have mid Aug 2018 delivered 100D. When using the front vent (heat or AC), a mild chemical like smell is emitted (lack of better description). My wife notices it too but she is not as bothered by it as I am. It makes me somewhat nauseous every time I turn on the front vent. I initially thought it was related to new car smell but it has not gone away. The rear vents do not emit any noticeable smell. We also have a Jan 2016 delivered model S and I do not notice any unusual smell.

FWIW, our AC stopped working about 2 months ago and the compressor was replaced. I brought the X back to Dublin SC, after the compressor replacement, for the smell but the tech could not diagnose any fault and simply told me to wait it out and come back if I was still bothered by it. I also sat in a brand new X at Tesla SC and tested out the front vent and it smelled OK to me (not like our X) so this leads me to believe something is wrong with our car. Because the smell is not specific to when the AC is on, it does not seem like it is related to the compressor but at the same time, I am wondering when they replaced the compressor , maybe some solvent fluid spilled in the path of the front vent causing the smell? I don't remember if the smell existed before the compressor replacement.

Anyone else experience this or have any suggestions? TIA.

 

[Fellsteruk]

Solvent would evaporate quite quickly to be fair if it helps I have a 2018 MX got it in September so was built around July time.

Mine has a feint smell when heaters are on from front vents but I’ve chaulked it down to being new as it’s kinda a new plastic type smell. If yours is bothering you thought call the SC.

 

[quack724]

I brought it into SC once and the tech essentially shrugged his shoulders. I might request a different tech when I bring it in again. I searched "smell" in this forum and FB group but I could not find anyone who experienced anything resembling my issue. I suspect it might have been triggered somehow when they worked on our car the last time for the compressor.

 

[gnuarm]

I have a smell sometimes in my mid-August X. I work with electronics and to me it smells like an overheated fiberglass circuit board. I haven't complained about it yet. I have to drive an hour to drop off my car. So I'm reluctant to bother with it. But it does bug me. I was hoping it would go away, but it's not all the time so we'll see what happens. I need to pay more attention to when it happens.

 

[Terthen]

It would bother me a lot if this was happening. I’d say I’m very sensitive to smells, but do not experience such issues in a 2016 X or July 2018 3.

In the model 3 forum, during th the CA wildfires it was mentioned that one of the owners was testing for PM2.5 and his testing machine also could check for VOCs. Maybe you could try to see if one of those is cheap to try to quantify if the VOC levels go up when you smell it? Sorry that may just be a ridiculous suggestion... maybe some data might help SC take a deeper dive. Another thought could be seeing if mobile technician would be willing to open up down to ththe AC level and take a look around for anything wrong with you looking overhead. Although we would probably be looking for something internal since it’s coming into th cabin, if there is anything spilled or something starting to burn and melt when something runs hot that is creating the smell maybe you could see?

 

[KevinY]

I have had a smell come from my vents more times than I can count in the past 2 years. Once I start noticing the smell its not an occasional occurrence, it happens every time I use the fan. It's especially strong after I haven't used the fan for an extended period of time, overnight.
I changed the frunk hepa filter, which didn't help.
I later asked the SC to replace the cabin filter. After replacement the smell went away. I stopped using some leather cleaning products that I thought might be off gassing and possibly getting captured in the cabin filter.
But months later the same smell came back. During my next service appointment I had them change the cabin filter and the smell went away.
I've come to the conclusion that I need to replace the cabin filter as needed, once or twice a year.
It costs $24 for the filter and $15 labor to replace.

 

[gnuarm]

It would seem my smell has dissipated. I just took the car on a 1000 mile trip with the heater working most of the time and never smelled it again.

Just for grins I tried running the bio-hazard filter but that turns on the dash vents which I don't care for so I turned the filter back off. I guess that won't get used much.