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Musty smell from HVAC in cabin? ... and odors in general entering the cabin?

18K views 43 replies 28 participants last post by  Pollo de muerte 
#1 ·
Reluctant to make a post that sounds like a complaint, but has anyone else experienced a genuinely 'musty' smell emitted from their HVAC upon starting up the car?? It last for a minute or two and is particularly intense as you turn on the HVAC system right at startup. I'm in Florida, so its humid, I get it, but my car is garaged and we've had consistently high heat and little rain for several days. This problem started about 4-6 weeks ago and just isn't going away. Very curious if this is unique to me.


Also, I've noticed that odors in general seem to permeate the I-Pace cabin more easily than any other car I've owned. Is my sense of smell just improving with age or has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?
 
#2 ·
Believe it or not, I still have that "new car" smell after 5 months. I know that smell are all the plastics off-gassing but I love it. What I noticed is that with the I-Pace, odor seems to penetrate the cabin easier compared to other cars I've driven. Case in point: I pass thru marijuana stores/dispensaries on my daily commute, and the smell easily comes into the cabin. Some of it smells "skunky."

I bought a canister of this product from Jaguar in case any of the smell sticks:
https://gear.jaguar.com/us/en/i-pac...y/excelda08-car-care-car-fresh/#tertiary-tabs
 
#3 ·
Mine is stinky sometimes ... it's lactic acid bacteria growing in the residual condensation water of the AC system ... same bacteria as smelly feet and yogurt. It's a fairly common problem with many cars. Put the blower on high with the AC off and let it run for a few minutes to dry things out. It will smell at first but then go away.
 
#4 ·
Not getting the musty smell and I'm in humid Florida as well. I have a fairly sensitive sense of smell as well, for what it's worth. Try Sciencegeek's solution. Hope it works.
 
#6 ·
I get this smell from time to time as well. I also notice the car lets in a lot of outside smells even with that special cabin option thingy...

I've heard there may be some software update that helps this?
 
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#8 · (Edited)
Same exact problem...in South FL; began occurring just after they fixed my "leaky" A/C valve a couple months ago. Hmm? Going in for service tomorrow for the Brake Regen Recall so I will mention it to my dealer SA to try to resolve as well.
 
#9 ·
Not worth a special trip to the dealer (although my Regen Brake Recall letter just arrived), but when I visit I will lodge a 'service ticket' for it to see if there is some magic software update (sgtpeper, above?) for this.
FYI, I *did* get the "Ionic cabin air filter" option but apparently to no advantage. I've since read on the UK forum others mentioning the ease with which odors enter the I-Pace cabin. Maybe without the fear of CO entering the cabin from an ICE propulsion system, the EV design is more tolerant of air/smell penetration?
 
#10 ·
@dtgsrq - That's what I'm talking about as well. Someone said one of the module updates makes the ionic cabin filter work correctly and that after it was done smells stopped entering the cabin as easily.
 
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#11 ·
While we're at it. Has anybody else noticed how LOUD the I-Pace is if you hit the Pre-Condition Now button while you pop into a store quickly (It's 100 degrees, here now - so I try not to let the car get warm). My electric I-Pace was sitting next to a Mercedes. The Merc was left running by its owner to keep it cool, same as mine - but I couldn't hear the Merc over my I-Pace which was ONLY running the A/C ... Making a TON of noise.
 
#16 ·
Yep! I was really surprised how loud it was! Figured if I turned it on when someone was passing by, they would freak out.
And, for what it's worth, I do not, nor never have had any odor other than the new car smell (still. After 8 months or so). I do not live in a normally humid area, so maybe that has a bit to do with it.
 
#12 ·
So it's not just me... I get a fish-sauce/candy smell in my 4 week old I Pace S, especially when A/C is off. Don't have much of a diagnosis yet as I am still learning the car's quirks. I'll monitor this thread though. I doubt the dealership would have a clue how to address this problem. Wish I could be more helpful.
 
#13 ·
Took mine in for a musty smell as well, they changed the air filter 60.00 and sprayed some fresher on the coil. Stinks less but still stinks. There was a black L shaped plastic pipe with an o ring fitting underneath the car on the garage floor. I thought it fell off the car. The dealer said it was not from the car. They looked underneath another iPace and didn’t see that part. Said they checked the parts list too. Not too sure about the explanation as they also told me to turn on creep mode when I told them it was off. Didn’t seem to understand the software update keeps it from staying on. Anyone else see this part or have a stink car?
 
#15 ·
I am in south Florida, and there is definitely a smell on startup and for a while afterwards, somewhat like body odor.



Currently I find it goes away in a few minutes without doing anything but having the AC on. I do run with windows open for a little bit as well.
 
#17 ·
I took my car in for repairs of the dead fish stink smell coming from the air vents to the dealer last week. They changed the cabin filter and sprayed the A/C coil with some freshener. What a f-ing joke! It fixed NOTHING> I have tried drying it out by running with no A/C. That did not work, I have tried running the A/C and it still stinks for 3-5 minutes after startup. They had no explanation for the broken pipe sitting on my garage floor. I notice that my I Pace does not drip water from the A/C condenser on the ground like normal cars. Is this the design flaw that is making it stink by keeping the condensation in the car? Not sure what is going on, it's the first time any car has had a stink this bad. I hope Jaguar is monitoring this board. They have a REAL issue here. Who wants to drive around in a 80k garbage can. Not me. I will bring it in to the dealer again to fix. If that does not work the third trip to the dealer for the same issue means it's possible to lemon the car.. California has strong lemon laws. Electro
 
#18 ·
The dealer might make a difference, I have had a great experience with Jaguar Carlsbad, so maybe you should try a different dealer.

You could also try and find out where is the condensation drain for the AC system and try and eye ball that yourself. I had a service shop show me visually an area where they said the coolant was leaking on my XJ which helped validate there was a problem.
 
#19 ·
I've had this problem in a couple cars over the years....I think one Volvo and my BMW i3. I was told by service to turn the fan on high, and spray bleach spray in/around the air intake. That took care of the problem.



Reluctant to make a post that sounds like a complaint, but has anyone else experienced a genuinely 'musty' smell emitted from their HVAC upon starting up the car?? It last for a minute or two and is particularly intense as you turn on the HVAC system right at startup. I'm in Florida, so its humid, I get it, but my car is garaged and we've had consistently high heat and little rain for several days. This problem started about 4-6 weeks ago and just isn't going away. Very curious if this is unique to me.


Also, I've noticed that odors in general seem to permeate the I-Pace cabin more easily than any other car I've owned. Is my sense of smell just improving with age or has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?
 
#20 ·
Hi Alphanstein, my dealer is Jaguar Carlsbad. The general manger and salesman are great guys very attentive. The service dept, not so much. 3 weeks to get an appointment is a compete joke. The same Hohen ownership group has same day service with loaners at their Mercedes dealer up the street. Even 2-3 days would be an improvement. had no idea when I mentioned 19B to fix my creep mode that 19a turned off.

Nath_h that is what the dealer sprayed in my vents. I did not do anything except change the smell to something worse. I am curious does anyone know if there is a parts list or a repair manual (Edmunds) for our cars? I’d like to see if the pipe came from my car somewhere. Does anyone’s else notice no water on floor from a/c condensation? Love the car, hate the stink. Electro
 
#22 ·
Crazy that my over 6 month old (bought new) I-Pace still has that amazing new car smell. The quality of the leather Jaguar uses is excellent, but I have had several occasions upon start up that I get a very strong, musty smell coming from the HVAC system.

IMO, it is more pronounced on humid days. Luckily, it ALWAYS goes away pretty quickly and never returns that day.
 
#30 ·
I agree that most cars I've owned have exhibited similar behavior. A trick I've used to good effect in previous cars was to shut off the compressor and run the fan only for the last 5 mins or so of my drive when practical. This dried out the duct work and greatly diminished the musty smell on the next drive. I have not tried this in the i-pace so I don't know how easy it is to do (older cars often had dedicated AC button or an "econ" button that turned off the compressor)
 
#35 ·
I've never smelled this in a new car though. Maybe an older car that's low on refrigerant or has a neglected cabin filter, but not a new car. I had an Acura that did this when it was several years old, but it was low on refrigerant and spitting moisture out the vents so it was bound to collect water somewhere. On the I-Pace I first noticed it when I started the car up Sunday morning, but I didn't notice it on the return trip. Tuesday afternoon it was much stronger, and that time I also noticed it a couple hours later on the return trip. In all cases the smell went away pretty quickly, but a new Jag (or any new car) shouldn't smell like a litter box. My F150 doesn't stink. My wife's BMW doesn't stink. My old BMW the I-Pace replaced never stank in 6-1/2 years of ownership.
 
#43 ·
1+ year later and I'm still struggling with this issue. Last year the dealer used some sort of deodorizer that really just made the whole car stink worse. It took all winter for the deodorant smell to finally go away, but the mold smell never completely left. It might have been because we had a milder summer this year, but the problem was not as bad this summer as the previous summer.

I had the dealer look at it again a couple days ago. This time they used an ozone generator and also found and treated some mold on the evaporator coil with some sort of fungicide. The dealer covered the cost to do this because JLR apparently won't cover it under warranty, but they told me if it needs done in the future it's on my dime - actually $154 of dimes. The trip home from the dealer was the best the car has ever smelled, but the next night I noticed it again. It's not bad...yet, but I expect it to come back. I'll be sniffing for it for the next few days.

Has anyone tried using an ozone generator in their car for this sort of thing? Does anyone know how hard it is to access the evaporator coil?
 
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