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I noticed the same thing. Never had the smell before but messed with the recirculation mode for the first time a few days ago and now I have the bad smell.
To rebut the “knowledge” in this thread. I drive 100 miles minimum daily, use only No AC Cabin Protection, and always 100% of the time use Auto Climate mode. I used to park in the garage but now park outside thinking a little airflow would help.
2021 Y with latest updates.
The stink always returns within 30-60 days of the cleaning.
This isn’t enough for me to give up on the car but it IS enough for me to complain even after doing all the recommendations to the letter.
2021 Y with latest updates.
The stink always returns within 30-60 days of the cleaning.
This isn’t enough for me to give up on the car but it IS enough for me to complain even after doing all the recommendations to the letter.
I had to pay for mine on a 11 month old car but there are plenty of videos that show us how to do it ourselves. I assume it would be a warranty item as well, wrong. Like you I've driven bimmers and audis and every other kind of car and never had that problem. For years I've heard of people having it however on any make of car. Its created by the moisture left to mold on the evaporator when the car is shut off, as a result I had a habit of letting the fan run for a while after shutting off the AC to hopefully dry the thing out. I did this with the model 3 as well but this year we just started using the AC and I've caught the car running the HVAC fan after putting the car to bed. I can't say how long it runs or when it goes on because I wasn't expecting it and didn't know what to make of it but now I'm thinking Tesla has changed the software to do this automatically to dry out the evaporator after the AC has been run. This would be a permanent and cheap solution. Problem is its only speculation nothing has been said that I've seen. It did not do this last year, that I know.
People have talked for years about how Tesla solved this with a software update that runs the fan for a period of time after shutdown. I've heard a fan on rare occasions after parking in the garage but I don't know if it's the HVAC fan, battery cooling, or something else. All I can say is that whatever software change they made does not work. It may help and it may be a fix for some, but it doesn't fix it completely. Maybe if they ramped it up and ran the fan longer or something, it would. But as of now, there are too many people still having the problem to pronounce that fan change as a true "fix".
Mike
had ranger replace filters today. He used a liquid instead of foam. says it works better. He said not to put anything into the intake area (which is easy for me to access vs filters couldn't be in a worse location!)
Also he said to turn off recirculate as you pull in to 'hood.
I will try anything to avoid this smell returning..
Also he said to turn off recirculate as you pull in to 'hood.
I will try anything to avoid this smell returning..
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
Well it has worked for a lot of people (and may have prevented a lot more cases), but in the end YMMV because the conditions everyone are in is different (and various states of contamination may have happened already before the update was pushed). Even in a perfect and clean system, if there is a clog in the drain tube, the same thing can happen.
...and ultimately, this type of system (AC) deals with humidity/water so eventually it will need cleaning. There's no way around it. At best we can augment the time the system can work without cleaning a bit but there's a limit. Since the condition for "success" is not clear, we can never quite call the problem "solved".
I'm under the impression that the software enhancement helped and that it, along with COP without AC, made it bearable... but that's my definition of bearable, which means I need to replace and clean once a year. I would gladly take 2 years
I'm under the impression that the software enhancement helped and that it, along with COP without AC, made it bearable... but that's my definition of bearable, which means I need to replace and clean once a year. I would gladly take 2 years
That's pretty much what I said. Works for some. Helps for others. But a bandaid is a bandaid: it won't work as well as if it was designed properly to begin with. The software/fan fix will result in anything from marginal improvement to pretty much fixed depending on the region/weather and use conditions.
Mike
ODWms
Member
I think my HVAC runs too much and too long after parking. Maybe hence no problem with the smell(?)
yeah. I'm guess I'm lucky... nearly 28k miles and 3 yrs but no smelly socks living in North Texas (AC is 100% on auto and cabin overheat is set to "fan only" and for the last 2 years the car has been garage parked with a few exceptions during the day). I do use occasionally "keep temperature" when running quickly into stores.
Despite what some youtubers with videos on the stinky smell topic had said, I'm quite certain having recirculate ON either causes or exacerbates the problem. The first 10 months of owning the car I never used recirculate and there wasn't a hint of smell, but I realized I was getting headaches from all the fumes sitting in LA traffic. After turning on recirculate the stinky smell started soon after (but the headaches are gone).
I also don't use cabin overheat (other than fan only) and the worst smells are always after short stops at shops where the AC cycles off for 5-15 minutes and restarts. I've tried cleaning and filter change twice and the smell doesn't go away for more than a couple of weeks before returning.
Right now my solution is to use keep climate for short stops and recir off as much as possible. I do wish the car would automatically do a 10 minute recirc off/AC off routine every time I leave it sitting instead of just shutting the fan off. And despite everyone saying the car is supposed to do that, mine certainly doesn't (and the car has the latest software), the interior fan just turns off when the door is shut and no one is inside.
I also don't use cabin overheat (other than fan only) and the worst smells are always after short stops at shops where the AC cycles off for 5-15 minutes and restarts. I've tried cleaning and filter change twice and the smell doesn't go away for more than a couple of weeks before returning.
Right now my solution is to use keep climate for short stops and recir off as much as possible. I do wish the car would automatically do a 10 minute recirc off/AC off routine every time I leave it sitting instead of just shutting the fan off. And despite everyone saying the car is supposed to do that, mine certainly doesn't (and the car has the latest software), the interior fan just turns off when the door is shut and no one is inside.
I've replaced the filters and cleaned the coil twice now. The first time I left the HVAC on automatic: let the car decide when to recirc. The second time I forced recirc on all the time. Both times, the filter only lasted 4 months until the stench was back. I don't think any one factor is going to make or break the stink. It's a combination of factors starting with poor design but to be one of the people who get the smell often, you probably have to tick a number of boxes that affect it. My wild guess without having enough data would be: live in a humid climate, take mostly short trips, and drive infrequently (lots of sitting in the garage).
Mike
Mike
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
It's supposed to run the fan after a delay, not immediately afterward. That is supposedly how it works on other cars that have the same system. The idea is the driver will likely be away from the car then and not be annoyed by the fan running.
Given this, if you match a profile of someone that makes lots of short trips and stop very short periods of time in between, it would seem the fan might not kick in at all, so that fix won't work for you.
Could also just be bugged out or there may be other triggers/conditions preventing it from kicking in.
Hi Niching, so you had to pay? I just made a service request for the same problem and they have sent me an estimate for $75 CAD to change the filter and labour charges. I have the same question as you- isn't this covered under warranty? My car is only 7 months old.I did use the app. First it showed that we would not be charge - "good will" - but when the service person showed up, there was a bill on the app. We didn't take a screen shot and there is no history of what transpired before.
My Model 3 smells like a rotten trash or rotten cockroach (please don't ask me how I know it) first 5 to 10 min when I turn the AC on. And then the smell gradually dissipate. The smell was worst and strongest when it suddenly appeared like six months ago. It's not that strong any more and a little bit bearable, but it still smells bad. One of the trick I developed is to turn AC on with my phone five minutes prior to get in the car.
Now, can this problem solved by replacing filters and foam cleaner? Or do I need some experts to unTesla(unearth) the mass grave of entire families of cockroaches?
Now, can this problem solved by replacing filters and foam cleaner? Or do I need some experts to unTesla(unearth) the mass grave of entire families of cockroaches?
That heat trick does NOT work. It'll get rid of the smell for, at most, a few days to a week and then it'll be back. Tried it many times, many different ways. Maybe there are some cars/situations where it works but on mine, it's a temporary mitigation only. I would say if your car/situation is one where the smell returns every 4-6 months, the heat thing is definitely not going to be a "fix".
Mike
Mike
