BlueCat_A6_allroad

My S6 smells like a toilet when first started after the car has been in the sun for a few hours. And since I live in Texas, that's a whole lotta stink.

When parked overnight in my garage, no odor is apparent the next morning. Not even a trace, really.

When parked in the sun at work, the odor begins when I start the engine each evening. I deliberately noted that there is no odor when first entering the car. Several times I remembered to sit and sniff before hitting the start button. No odor. Once the engine starts and the air blows, all you can do is cover your nose with a sweet smelling hanky and dab at the water running out of your eyes.

The malodorous stench lasts about four minutes then goes away. It is vital to have the windows rolled down to vent the foul odor and avoid complete neurological meltdown. The wait is not so bad since it is hard to drive with crossed eyes anyway.

The odor does not have a car-like smell. It is foul like something dead. But it goes away after four minutes then comes back after the next day in the heat. Zombie-like, if you ask me.

If I had to name a smell similar to this, I would say it smells like a porta-potty that hasn't been serviced since JFK was dodging questions about Marilyn Monroe. It is truly foul.

Obviously, I do not drive when the office staff get together for lunch. They are very anxious to ride in an S6 but I don't want to risk the embarrassment this might rain down on my person. And I sure wouldn't want to risk giving them complete and total brain-lock.

And then there are dates. I know every trick in the book for keeping her out of the car until it "warms up".

I wonder if anybody else has experienced such a problem and lived to tell about it.

Anybody?

scooter80

Luckily I haven't had this wonderful experience you described in much detail, however I do offer a possible cause and solution.

Perhaps something is dead in it? Have you checked the "fresh" air/pollen filters. Though they are to extract particulates, the housing and air tract for the filters can house all sorts of decaying matter/beings. There should be a procedure for checking/replacing these in your owner's manual, you could have a dealer do it during maintenance/service, or there are instructions to follow in a Bentley manual as well as in racer's sticky on these forums!

Good Luck, a bad stench can really ruin the experience for any, especially the owner!

KevinGary

I had the HVAC odor problem. There is a TSB on the issue. Drop me a PM with your e-mail address, refencing the HVAC odor, and I will send you the TSB.

aceecaus

I had the same issue. When I had my car Dyno'd, the tech was familiar with this condition. Apparently, when you turn the car off, there is still moisture in the vents and the evaporator. When the car sits, eventually, mold and bacteria builds up on the inside the AC vent and system. Mine stunk like dirty socks, and when it was really hot out, it stunk like dog sh*t. The tech said that they have a service where they flush the whole system out with a pressurized device and change the carbon filters. He wanted $280! Ouch! Well, with the car being still new (9 months old), I figured Audi would cover this under their warranty. Long story longer, I took the S6 to the dealer and he said yep, he knew what I was talking about and was going to perform an ozone flush (the same process the other shop was talking about). However, they only cover that condition for 6 months after the sale of the car. I called BS but to no avail. I guess the good thing is that the dealer charged $190, I couldn't believe that they were cheaper than the non-dealer shop.
1 week later and there is only the new car/Audi smell It was the best money I could have spent to get the stink out. One side note, the process they performed is a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.

BlueCat_A6_allroad

Thank you for the very helpful responses. Glad I posted here. Now following up.

C.R.Brown

There is also this einzett Klima cleaner. I haven't tried it but have used most of the other 1Z stuff which is excellent.

Depending on the warranty and if the TSB is covered then changing the cabin filter and this may be a cheaper solution.