Stale smell from the air conditioner
 

I've noticed this from the time I bought the car and just recently sprayed Lysol in the intake ports under the windshiled wipers. Worked great. I just turned on the vent blower and gave it a good shot on each side.

You should replace the pollen filter. It's likely that it's never been changed before, it's often skipped during services...I just changed mine & all odours from the aircon dissapeared...

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Nice one Marco and good advice there from Cambo too!

The other thing to consider is this.....making sure to use you A/C as frequewntly as possible. Often whe not used for long periods there is a build up of moisture which helps bacteria to form. This can leave a stale and sometimes foul smelling odour which can be hard to shift.

Lysol or the can from NAPA in the intake for cabin air,change pollen filter,keep a tray or tub of non treated charchol in side for a couple weeks,great at pulling out odor.

I've read their isn't a cabin filter in xk8's. Is that not so?

All "modern" cars have them

I had a look in the parts catalog, XK8 definitely has one;

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11575086/XK8Filter.gif

I use the Road Pro 12V Mini Air Purifier/IonizerMini 12-Volt Air Purifier/Ionizer from Amazon.com. $22.00 and worth every penny. It does not cover up odors, it removes them and leaves a very fresh scent.

And the blue light it puts out looks really cool at night...:icon_razz:

The Lysol has worked wonders. After about 3/4 treatments no smell at all. Cheap and easy.

Thanks for this - I had someone trying to convince me the filters were in the footwell - no wonder I couldn't find them :)

I read (here?) that pollen filters were optional- check that you have one before buying a replacement. It's not as easy as popping the hood. You have to remove the windshield wipers and "cowl panel grill" to see if you have it: attached is a pic from JTIS. You can see the filter peeking out under it in the lower left corner.

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Yeah this is nuts I have the 2011 XJL I just bought and the interior smells like burn crayons, pretty strong. Cars is immaculate 70k miles guy never even had kids, no spills, never smoked. I drove it home from Calif to Vegas A/C on the whole way and when I got home gf said to take clothes off and get in shower immediately. I cleaned the whole interior, shampooed extracted carpets, no dice.. I leave the windows open in the garage to air out now garage smells like crayons.. Not sure if its just older Jaguar material and leather does this over time this is my first Jag. I just changed the cabin filter under the passenger console today so i'll see if that helps. It stinks whether the car sits or drives so not sure if it's A/C related. Any input from anyone would help thanks...:icon_omg:

A blast from the past with an 8 year old thread but the A/C odour issue is always relevant.

You must have eliminated any source from the upholstery or carpets with the interior clean so it has to be A/C related. This can happen when owners don't use the A/C - Jaguar recommendation is to run it all the time.

Change the cabin filter and use an A/C cleaner aerosol. Here's an example - there's plenty of similar products available:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...870e31be12.jpg

Set it off in the vehicle with the A/C running on full to clear bacteria which cause smells.

With the A/C on maximum cold, make sure the drains under the vehicle aren't blocked. There should be drips of condensate on the ground beneath the vehicle. If there isn't, check the drains for blockage. If they do block, the condensate has nowhere to go and will eventually find its way into the vehicle with a particularly unpleasant sour smell.

Years ago my dealer advised me to run the A/C from maximum hot through maximum cold once a month to prevent the directional flaps from sticking when set to a constant temperature. It's good preventative maintenance and the only A/C issues I've had since on a number of Jaguars has been recharging refrigerant every two or three years.

Graham

Yes sometimes I like waking the dead and stirring up the old threads:icon_deadhorse:... I will definitely look into the air condition source as a possible odor as I have seen people use Lysol in the air vents. I actually ran the A/C on high, bought a can of Lysol and was looking for the intake to spray that in and couldn't find it, I'll have to keep looking because it has to be sprayed while it's running.....

Ive got the '11 XJL and I cant see anywhere where to spray the Lysol in the intake vents while its running. There is nothing underneath the windshield wipers:icon_hyper:

Have a look at this:


Graham

Yes Thank you I just replaced that a few weeks ago and still have that burnt crayon smell.. What I might do is take out that cabin filter on the passenger side again and while the car and A/C is running spray Lysol in that cave and it might circulate through the system..That's where the intake even might be where you put the Lysol... I hope...