jamesquan

Hi, can anyone tell me why my brand new RX300's aircon smells awful when I turn it on first thing in the morning?

I live in Singapore and the dealer said it's stale vapour from the night before. I had a few other cars before the REX, and none had this problem.....Thanks

wwest

What you are experiencing is pretty standard for all Lexii.

In order to achieve the utmost level of comfort and quietness they strive to run the system blower at the lowest possible speed, ALWAYS.

One of the ways this is achieved is to restrict the amount of exhaust airflow leaving the cabin to an absolute minimum. No out-going airflow, the airflow trapped in the cabin remains relatively cool, or warm, and does not need to be recycled through the system ---- low blower speeds, ALWAYS.

Your best bet, if you park it indoors, is to open the sunroof, or lower the windows slightly, when you park it for an extended period. otherwise simply lower the windows while driving about ten minutes before parking it for the evening.

jamesquan

Hi Wwest,
Thanks for the advice....do you think by switching the internal circulation button off at night will help?

Thanks,
James

wwest

If what you mean by that is to put th system in "fresh" (flow-thru) mode before you turn off the key, then the answer is yes. Opening the fresh air intake vent in that way would allow some of the trapped moisture to evaporate up and out of the inlet vents, typically under the rear of the engine hood at the bottom of the windshield. I don't think I would suggest relying on that method solely however.

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

before you turn off the car for overnight parking, turn the AC off for 10 seconds or so before you shut the car down. I've had this problem before and I always shut my car down right after the AC is off. Now I don't get it no more. So just wait 10 sec.

wwest

In my 92 LS400 I installed four 12 volt "muffin" fans, two in each rear quarter panel at each end of the exit airflow "channel".

Using a diode "OR" gate, these "cabin atmosphere extraction fans" are automatically activated if I turn on the rear window defog/defrost, activate the windshield defog/defrost, and I have a separate switch to manually activate the fans.

I had thought about doing the same thing in my 2001 RX300 AWD but first I think I will try to convice my wife to dump the RX for an ML320 that really is AWD and has a sensible climate control system.

If I do go ahead and install extraction fans in the RX I will add a third mode, one which includes two timers, a delay timer for starting up the fans 60 minutes after the last A/C compressor "cycle", and a 15 minute timer for the extraction fan run duration.

I think it might take at least 60 minutes for the A/C evaporator to warm up from its 34 degree F. operating temperature to a level at which the moisture previosuly condensed onto it vanes will more willingly evaporate into the cabin atmosphere.

I wish I could patent the idea but I understand that most Saturns already include this feature.

willard west

http://www.airsept.com/eed.html