On the Mercedes C240 2002 model no cold air flows even with aircon full of gas also no outside air flowing into car and bad smell from vents is there a known and easy fix for this problem?

Answer 1

Known, yes. Easy, no. More than likely you have multiple problems. Both are related to the length of time your car has been humid.

The no cold air can be either the vent diaphragm rubber has dry rotted/ temp door motor failed, the expansion valve is not working, too much oil in your system from past recharges, dead drier or any combination of the above. The temp door diaphragm/motor is the most likely culprit, with your drier being saturate a close second. You should be able to see it moving when you actuate the temperature control, within half a minute, if it is working.To see if your drier is the problem, with the vehicle running and A/C on, feel the top and bottom of the drier. A good drier should be warm or cool. A cold or freezing bottom and warm or not as cool top, indicates a saturated drier. Replace it, evacutate the system and recharge. Note: While the system is open, take the time to clean the expansion valve and blow out the evaporator. PAG oil accumulates a lot faster than mineral oil did and could be coating the inside of your evaporator and condensor, reducing your cooling.

The smell is mold, plain and simple. Inside the evaportator housing, is foam used as insulation. Over time mold and mildew grow on it and spreads through the system, hence the smell. The evaporator will eventually rot out from the constant moisture and acids from the mold, which may be a potential leak now or in the future. Catch it and kill the mold soon enough and you will save yourself a lot of headaches later. The solution is lysol in the vents and in the cabin air intake. If you still have the factory cabin air filter, change it. Sometimes folks would discard the filter instead of changing it, thinking it would save money. Not true. The filter protects the system and reduces the growth of molds. If the evaporator is already leaking, change it, and clean the inside of the case and vents while you have them out. Use dish soap, weak bleach solution, pine oil, whatever you wish. Just remember it must kill molds and fungi, and that whatever perfume or odor the cleaning solution has, you will smell every time you turn on the A/C, for a long time to come.

Hope this helps you with your problem.

Robert