chris1601

If your smartphone's Battery is dead, or if you lose it/forget it/gets stolen, what's the backup way into your Tesla @ganzoom ?

If it takes an sd card as my 2013 does, you can get an updated one from ebay for £38. Pop it in, job done. Check your nav system matches.

Ok that would be a 79mm sidewall, compared with 112mm on the ones I had. Some have reported better results by increasing the tyre pressure. Worth a try?

I had a similar experience with Rainsport 2s years ago on an Audi A6 (225 50 17). It felt like the car was lurching from side to side at speed (70mph). The softer sidewalls were suspected to be the cause. I sold them at great financial loss and replaced them with Goodyear Efficient Grip. The issue went away. What are your tyre dimensions?

5 hours ago, pkts said:

Does anyone know the max time between turning the car off that the car won't insist on firing up the ICE initially ? I did a very brief errand today and it didn't turn on the ICE just to warm up. That was a 5 min break. I'd assume anything more than 10-15 minutes will lead to the car firing up ICE for 15 seconds on startup.

It depends on the engine coolant temperature, so the loss of that temperature will vary depending on the time standing and the surround ambient temperature. It's a shorter time in winter and a longer time in summer. 

Sounds to me like the compressor may not be working properly, either electrically or lack of refrigerant. Even with 5 adults on a rainy day, an AC system should be able to cope with the moisture load with ease. If you direct the air to the screen, does any misting clear within a few seconds?

It might "prevent" the smell but it doesn't change the science of bacteria loving moist environments 🙂

I use inverted commas since the smell is masked by the coldness of the evaporator when in operation, but doesn't prevent the bacteria from forming, living and thriving when you're parked up in summer.

I can also assure everyone from my decades experience of not using AC full time that leaving if off prevents the nasty smell as well, and prevents the bacteria from forming and thriving.

The issue really comes in winter time when the compressor won't run due to low temperatures. Now you have no control over your cabin humidity because your evaporator starts to release all that trapped moisture and also the smells from the bacteria within that moisture. Although with global warming and winters getting warmer, perhaps compressors stopping in winter will be a thing of the past soon enough.

1 hour ago, wharfhouse said:

The fix is the same for all cars especially those with automatic air con like yours. Do not switch the air con off!!! - just leave it on auto all the time and set the desired temperature for the system to maintain. This way condensate does not settle in the system where bacteria can grow and produce the smell and also it prevents any seals from drying out and causing leaks. Regards the mould on the radiator i am assuming you mean mould in the condenser - if it was just on the outside of the radiator just clean it off. My plan of action would be to get the system cleaned again (maybe by a 3rd party air con specialist - also running the heating on max while driving around with the air con on for an hour or so on auto can help kill the bacteria though it might smell for a while but you can leave the windows open) and then leave the air con set on full time - you said yourself the smell only came back after switching it off. I have never had the problem with smells others often report on any of my cars but have always left air con on auto all of the time on all of them. With modern cars the impact on fuel consumption is negligible and the additional cost is certainly far, far less than any problems caused such as you appear to be experiencing. 

Common wisdom seems to be to run AC all year round, but the problems with that, for me at least, are:
a) that the evaporator is always moist because it is a cold surface which will cause moisture to condense
b) come winter time below 3-4c the compressor will stop running anyway leading to window misting

That constant moisture is why it eventually starts to smell as it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. The reason why the smell comes back once the AC is switched off is because the evaporator is no longer cold, it warms up releasing moisture it accumulated into the cabin (the reason why the air also starts to smell damp as well as smelly).
Provided it has been dried out by letting the fan run without the compressor, not using AC will NOT cause it to create bacteria and the musty smells associated with it. It's the same with home AC as well. Annual maintenance of home AC indoor units at the end of the warmer months is needed to keep things healthy because it isn't practical to dry out the indoor unit every day. Whereas in a car, you can use the AC, then turn it off a mile or two from home and dry it out. I don't typically do that in summer because it's often too warm, but in the milder months either side, its perfectly practical.

After a few decades on the road and not using AC full time (but still using it every few weeks to maintain the seals), I've never had AC fail due to perished seals, never had to "bomb" clean it because of mildew/mould smells and my windows rarely mist up during wet weather. Use a moderate fan speed and air movement alone prevents misting.

Using AC full time is precisely the reason why they start to smell because the evaporator is permanently wet. Choose to run AC as little as possible will help to keep the evaporator dry and bacteria then cannot form.

Hello. I'm considering going from a 2005 Audi A6 3.0tdi to an 07-08 450h. I've had a test drive and like what I see so far. I was just researching maintenance and found that the service interval is 5000 miles. I'm coming from a service interval on my current car of 15-20k variable.

Is the 450h really every 5k?