Not only me, but a few other xk8/r owners have complained about the nasty, musty/damp smell that you experience when you first turn on the A/C, or open the vent on the climate controls. Obviously that air that is trapped in the vents will be a little warm, but why the foul smell? Since 99% of us have ruled out the probability we have an in-cabin air filter to contend with as a possible source, I believe I have found the culprit!!

My car, like some of the other members with the same issue, comes from a humid region, in my case 4 years in Houston by the gulf of mexico. That explains why I found the padded dash vent door to be fully saturated STILL! What led me to this is as described below.

Whitexkr and myself have had to do some work on our dash LCD monitors to get an aftermarket GPS feed tied into the screen with a video swtich. While making the connections to the screen's RGB leads, you have to remove not only the wood center piece (see the FAQ for Reverend Sam's video), but the screen itself and then the manual vent section. That simply slides right out and fits snugly with a couple peg-in-a-hole locations upon re-installing.

Anyway, when I had this dual-vent section out, I noticed that the computer controlled (i.e. motorized) vent flap had a softish material on it behind this plastic-grid thing. It is removed by a four screws, easily reached. I was determined to see what was behind it. The 'soft' material seals the door when it closed. I thought to myself, hey...I bet that piece is what stinking up my car. I took a bottle of febreeze, and when I sprayed the first squirt on it...it pooled at the bottom of the material on the door. I thought to myself, now how the heck could that have happened unless the material was saturated already. Dabbing the material to get the pooling febreeze and the material stayed indented and felt squishy...it would never dry completely, i knew that now. I was determined to get that crap off, who knows what bacteria or growth was living in that warm, moist environment!

sorry, no pic of the original, dented, foamy material. But i took a small scraper, maybe 1-inch wide, and the stuff just fell apart when I touched it. Grabbing the vacuum, I was able to scrape and suck all that crap off the door! Be careful not to apply too much pressure, i wasn't going to chance breaking that pin/lever mechanism on the door. You won't need much effort to scrape that crap off.

Getting there...


After a thorough scraping, I took rubbing alcohol, and scrubbed the surface using cotton squares - the kind your girlie uses to remove makeup. This is important to not only kill the spores i grew, but also to clean and dry the surface for a new piece of material.



I used a section of material that whitexkr provided me to re-pad my center console cupholder piece. It is a tan with a thin grey foam opposite side. I think it's headliner padding.



the piece was measured, cut, and then further trimmed so it extended past the door about 1/8" on the three sides (obviously not the top), then used a little upholstery glue in the spray can (also from the console repadding project) and applied it to the door quickly so the piece can be adjusted if not exactly centered. I put the tan side out since the foam would most likely adhere better to the metal door than the tan (pretty) Just tuck those small overhanging edges between the door and the opening gently. Done. Reinstall in reverse order. You cannot see the tan thru the vents, don't worry about that.





No more stank! i actually shot a couple squirts of my favorite cologne onto the fabric for a personal touch.

Something else i did while all this was apart, The dual-vent piece has little pieces of foam around the door that were practically disintegrated. Actually, one side (bottom) was in tact, but the top was practically gone. This little 'foam seal' prevents air from going to the center dash vent when the driver/passenger closes it.

I took a small screwdriver, and scraped the foam strip (what was left of it) from between the plastic it was wedged between. Then, using the same material, I cut a couple thin strips and tucked it where the old foam was, leaving about a 1/4" sticking out to the side. A dab of glue will keep it from sliding back out once you find the perfect fit and size. Seals like a dream now.

sorry, no pics of this little procedure, its very self explanatory once you look at it. I hope others will find this useful to fight the stank!

 

Great idea !!!

This one just went on my todo list. We are finding a multitude of uses for headliner foam backed fabric on these cars.

I definitely noticed the crumbling foam back there...it made a mess on the carpet when I did the video screen work. I definitely would like to make it right, even though mine is not stinky at the moment.

 

Matt, its not just the many foam pieces in the hvac system, but the ducts and especially the evaporator. Sea foam makes a cleaner that works well. I have also used Lysol spray through the air intake at the base of the windscreen with the AC on full blast, and soaked, then run the heat and scroll the vent settings

 

When there is this much moisture, isn't it usually because the evaporator drain is restricted?

 

only if yours isnt dripping out on the ground.
Matt and i live in humid texas and many others too that suffer from the same issues of humidity and mold and algea growth. Go talk to a home ac guy about the same issue with dirty evaporators from black mold and algae

 

Thanks for the additional suggestions for harboring odor guys, and to be thorough, I should do the fogging you describe brutal. However, after a few weeks (yes, I delayed that long before doing this thread) I've used the A/C and regular exterior air vents off and on for awhile, and it has improved 99%, I don't have that disgusting look of anticipation on my face, nor the cringe from taking a whiff of the first batch of air coming out from the vents. I would seriously think to myself..."crap, that's gonna stink, I'll just roll down my window so as not to have to experience that smell today"

When the dash vent door initially opens, the warn air hits the old, moist foam and carries the goodness into your cabin. Now, its just warm air.

 

Agreed, I was just making a generalization. Seattle isn't exactly devoid of moisture, but the one thing you have down there is heat with moisture. That may be the real difference.