Strong odor when starting

[n928kc]

Hi all
MY with 6100 xxxx099763
I requested mobile service to rectify odor when starting and yesterday the tech did a service that cost $141.00 I asked why its not a warranty situation and he said it will not be covered.
I said to proceed & he did a great job

Bummed that I had to pay for what I consider a warranty problem

 

[2101Guy]

common issue. Fix appears to be to remove the cabin filters (located near the firewall underneath the center screen), spray a can of this in the filter opening with the tube facing the front of the car. Let dry, then replace filters with charcoal filters.

might need to be repeated once per year.

 

[jcanoe]

If you have the HVAC set to Recirculate Cabin Air ON then before you park turn this off; you can use the Voice Command "Fresh Air" and "Recirculate" to turn this feature Off and On. Turning On Recirculate Cabin Air helps the AC run more efficiently as it does not have to continuously be cooling warm air from outside the cabin. Turning Off Recirculate Cabin air may help the HVAC to dry out the AC evaporator core. In warm weather when the Model Y is parked the HVAC system will continue to run the blower fan for ~20 minutes after you park to help dry out the evaporator core.

 

[n928kc]

Thank you for the suggestions

 

[everydaychris]

If you have the HVAC set to Recirculate Cabin Air ON then before you park turn this off; you can use the Voice Command "Fresh Air" and "Recirculate" to turn this feature Off and On. Turning On Recirculate Cabin Air helps the AC run more efficiently as it does not have to continuously be cooling warm air from outside the cabin. Turning Off Recirculate Cabin air may help the HVAC to dry out the AC evaporator core. In warm weather when the Model Y is parked the HVAC system will continue to run the blower fan for ~20 minutes after you park to help dry out the evaporator core.

This.
I always do this 2 min before I exit the car on the max fan setting

 

[iamnid]

common issue. Fix appears to be to remove the cabin filters (located near the firewall underneath the center screen), spray a can of this in the filter opening with the tube facing the front of the car. Let dry, then replace filters with charcoal filters.

might need to be repeated once per year.

Are you sure the tube faces the FRONT of the car? The videos I've seen always have people spraying toward the BACK of the car.

 

[jcanoe]

This applicator tool is designed to enable you to control where the AC evaporator coil cleaner gets sprayed. (It would be easy to fashion a similar tool from a wire clothes hanger.)

3D Printed Applicator Tool for Tesla / AC cleaner Kool-it. - - Amazon.com

 

[WattsHappening]

Are you sure the tube faces the FRONT of the car? The videos I've seen always have people spraying toward the BACK of the car.

You're correct. The evaporator coils are on the side of the passengers, not the front of the car.

 

[jcanoe]

You want to spray the cleaner so it covers the vanes of the evaporator coil and the other parts of the compartment. Don't attempt to use a brush etc. clean the vanes are they are made of thin aluminum and easily damaged. After you apply the cleaner turn the HVAC to AC and the lowest temperature setting so the AC compressor will run. Turn on Recirculate Cabin Air. Run the HVAC on the highest or next to highest HVAC fan speed for 15 minutes. The cleaner will run off of the evaporator coil along with any contaminants and drain out through the drain tube at the bottom of the evaporator compartment onto the ground beneath the vehicle.

 

[NY_Rob]

The old trick is to turn off the A/C and just have the fan run a couple of min before arriving at your destination this way it helps dry off the evaporator coils. I never tried the "put it in recirculate mode" part... I just leave it on regular outside air for the fan only mode.

Some cars are more prone to this condition, my 2012 Plug-in-Prius had this problem but my Volt and Bolt didn't have it.

 

[M109Rider]

The old trick is to turn off the A/C and just have the fan run a couple of min before arriving at your destination this way it helps dry off the evaporator coils. I never tried the "put it in recirculate mode" part... I just leave it on regular outside air for the fan only mode.

Some cars are more prone to this condition, my 2012 Plug-in-Prius had this problem but my Volt and Bolt didn't have it.

I do that also. But once in a while, I forget, so I have to clean mine every so often. Not a big deal. My Jeep, and VW didn’t do this, but my BMW did it all the time. Agree, every car is different.

 

[Dennisis]

I do that also. But once in a while, I forget, so I have to clean mine every so often. Not a big deal. My Jeep, and VW didn’t do this, but my BMW did it all the time. Agree, every car is different.

Yep, both my 335i and 535i would get the stink regularly...

 

[jcanoe]

The old trick is to turn off the A/C and just have the fan run a couple of min before arriving at your destination this way it helps dry off the evaporator coils. I never tried the "put it in recirculate mode" part... I just leave it on regular outside air for the fan only mode.

Some cars are more prone to this condition, my 2012 Plug-in-Prius had this problem but my Volt and Bolt didn't have it.

My 2017 Volt developed an odor, I had the dealer replace the cabin air filter and also clean the evaporator coil. GM vehicles have an HVAC setting called After Blow that can be set to run the HVAC blower for ~10 minutes after you shut off the vehicle. As far as I am aware only the GM dealer's service department can enable the After Blow setting.

 

[NY_Rob]

...GM vehicles have an HVAC setting called After Blow that can be set to run the HVAC blower for ~10 minutes after you shut off the vehicle. As far as I am aware only the GM dealer's service department can enable the After Blow setting.

Yes, I recall the "Afterblow" dealer-only GM option. When I had my Bolt infotainment system looked at a month after I got the Bolt I had the Stealership enable Afterblow. Maybe that's why the Bolt never developrd the stink issue? Elon could easily add "Afterblow" to the Tesla OS... would solve a lot of problems.

 

[jcanoe]

Yes, I recall the "Afterblow" dealer-only GM option. When I had my Bolt infotainment system looked at a month after I got the Bolt I had the Stealership enable Afterblow. Maybe that's why the Bolt never developrd the stink issue? Elon could easily add "Afterblow" to the Tesla OS... would solve a lot of problems.

Tesla did update the programming of the HVAC system (first seen in the Model 3) to run the blower fan on a low/medium speed for 20 minutes after the Tesla vehicle is parked. GM had to balance the run time of the HVAC blower against the capacity of the vehicle's 12V starter battery. In the Tesla vehicle there is no significant battery drain when running the HVAC blower for a longer period so Tesla's engineers were able to program the HVAC blower fan to run for 20 minutes as is currently the case. While Model 3 vehicles may still have an issue even with the HVAC blower running for 20 minutes the Model Y vehicle appears to be less likely to develop an odor problem due to mold/mildew in the AC evaporator. Whether this is due to an improved AC evaporator design in the Model Y or the HVAC blower operation is unknown.