AC smell when first turned on

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minis2003

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
6
anyone have a glue type smell coming from the AC when you first turn it on for about 3 minutes of running?
when i use the heat i get no smell just when i turn on the AC.
AC does get cold and air blows well
 
Often a smell for the first few minutes of air conditioning is caused by a clogged drain in the evaporator pan. I don't know about the i3 specifically, but sometimes they get clogged up with leaves or dirt. That sometimes means you have a little water in there that didn't drain out with some moldy crud in it. Again, I don't know about the i3, but in any other car I'd crawl underneath and see if there is a small rubber hose that's supposed to act as a drain and blow some air through it or something.
 
found a thread some where when i googled the issue, turned out to be the windshield wiper fluid. something i would never have guessed it.
i rinsed the windshield off with a gallon bucket of clean water and the smell went away. no more chemical (glue) smell.

if i can find the thread again i will post it just encase other might have the chemical smell like i had vs the damp smell
 
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