B7 TDI AC Smell and Noise

I bought my car about 2 months ago from VW dealer with CPO warranty.
2013 PASSAT TDI SE W SUNROOF AND NAV
My car now has 24.500 miles. I bought it at 17100 miles.
My AC smelled bad for a while(it still does). And then started making noise.
The noise is more like a metal touching something and sometimes like whistle or air leak.
Now it's not blowing very cold,just OK,becoming warmer day by day.
And it's noisy.
It was blowing super cold last week.
I changed cabin filter under glove box. Still the same issue.

Did anyone have same issue before? I cant even locate where the a/c compressor is. I am pretty new to cars. Could someone tell me how should I check the compressor and belts.
By the way when the smell started I tried to look for air vents that draw fresh air but could not find them. Most cars have them in front of windshield however Germans did hide them somewhere..
When I popped the hood, I noticed big two fans behind the radiator.
Smaller one was running fine,but big one seemed to be little off from the center,it was not touching the other fan but does not look straight.
Any suggestions?
NO CEL ON.

Will CPO warranty or any remaining factory warranty will cover this fix?
i checked the forum and could not find anything related to this.

Simple and quick answer is to take the car to the dealer!

In my 14 years of dealership, I am pretty confident that the smell is from one simple thing...

Most people do not turn off the A/C before they shut down the car. You should always turn off the A/C button about 1-2 miles from your final destination. This will allow enough evaporation of the moisture from the ventilation box.

When you do (or more correctly, Dont do) this, moisture is still in the A/C & heater box. This moisture will not evaporate and will start to mildew. That is the smell you are getting.

What you should do is disinfect the A/C box using something like Lysol or one of the many products available to kill mildew in the A/C system.

Remove the cabin (pollen) filter, put the ventilation system in "fresh air" mode (not recirculate), and fan speed on 3 or 4. Spray the Lysol or chosen disinfectant into the fresh air vent (it will either be in the wiper cowl or passenger front fender liner). Then go inside the car and put the system in recirculate mode. Spray some more disinfectant into the cabin air intake (I dont know if these are under the dash or under the seat). Now let the air run in recirculate mode for a few minutes. When done, install a new cabin filter (preferably the charcoal filter as it eliminates smells).

If it’s not cooling and it’s cpo, worse case you are paying to evacuate and recharge the ac because of low freon. Best case, something is broken and vw covers it under the cpo warranty for $50.

Jetta_Pilot said:

Simple and quick answer is to take the car to the dealer!

Click to expand...

I actually scheduled an appointment but I was not sure if the warranty will cover it so in case it does not, I do not want to pay an arm and a leg to dealer.
During the call service advisor said it should cover,but we will see.

Fixmy59bug said:

In my 14 years of dealership, I am pretty confident that the smell is from one simple thing...

Most people do not turn off the A/C before they shut down the car. You should always turn off the A/C button about 1-2 miles from your final destination. This will allow enough evaporation of the moisture from the ventilation box.

When you do (or more correctly, Dont do) this, moisture is still in the A/C & heater box. This moisture will not evaporate and will start to mildew. That is the smell you are getting.

What you should do is disinfect the A/C box using something like Lysol or one of the many products available to kill mildew in the A/C system.

Remove the cabin (pollen) filter, put the ventilation system in "fresh air" mode (not recirculate), and fan speed on 3 or 4. Spray the Lysol or chosen disinfectant into the fresh air vent (it will either be in the wiper cowl or passenger front fender liner). Then go inside the car and put the system in recirculate mode. Spray some more disinfectant into the cabin air intake (I dont know if these are under the dash or under the seat). Now let the air run in recirculate mode for a few minutes. When done, install a new cabin filter (preferably the charcoal filter as it eliminates smells).

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot ! After dealer fixes it if it still smells, I will definitely do this!

06bluebeetletdi said:

If it’s not cooling and it’s cpo, worse case you are paying to evacuate and recharge the ac because of low freon. Best case, something is broken and vw covers it under the cpo warranty for $50.

Click to expand...

Both cases will get me outta service with under 100$ I believe, so I will be pretty happy. Hopefully, CPO Warranty will cover it.
I will also do the oil change,tire rotation and adblue. Coolant also looks less than half. So it will be more like 20k miles service

Hi there. Just an update.
I went to service today and they said belt and clutch were fine . They recharged the A/C. Warranty covered it however I paid 50$ deductible. Plus recommended alignment (since I have never done since I bought it)99.95$.
Anyway, it is blowing cold and the smell is gone. I had to get oil change and rotation anyway so I did not really mind asking them to check my A/C. They performed the AC dye test and I was told that no leaks or any damages.
Hope this helps people with same problem!
I will keep you updated if A/C goes bad again..

Update:
After recharging it at first dealer came back home and after a week it is warm again. I went to local VW dealer since it is under CPO warranty and they recharged again knowing that there is a leak.
They said they recharged it with dye however first dealer already performed dye test.
Anyway, now after a week its gone again and they said it will need a new AC compressor.
Region manager and dealer discussing if it will be covered under CPO warranty or not. It is pain in the butt.

That should absolutely be covered under CPO.

There are only a few things it DOES NOT cover. Wear and tear items like wipers, battery, brakes, etc. and damage due to outside influence (you cut the seat, you ran over a tire, etc)

Everything else should be covered.

Why 2 different dealers? It’s better to build a relationship with one, so they know what is going on and can refer to previous history, it also helps if they need to plead with vw on your behalf. As fixmy59bug said it should be covered unless outside influence ie road debris went through the condenser or something similar.

Fixmy59bug said:

That should absolutely be covered under CPO.

There are only a few things it DOES NOT cover. Wear and tear items like wipers, battery, brakes, etc. and damage due to outside influence (you cut the seat, you ran over a tire, etc)

Everything else should be covered.

Click to expand...

After 4 days letting my car sit in the service, received a call and they told me it will be covered however they will have to order parts and will probably arrive next week. They said I can take my car back and they will call me when the parts arrive.
Glad it is covered since the whole thing will be changed..

06bluebeetletdi said:

Why 2 different dealers? It’s better to build a relationship with one, so they know what is going on and can refer to previous history, it also helps if they need to plead with vw on your behalf. As fixmy59bug said it should be covered unless outside influence ie road debris went through the condenser or something similar.

Click to expand...

I had to drive 200 miles away to buy the car which is around DC area.. After a while I had to make a trip to DC and A/C was making problems so I decided to let them try since they promised a loaner. But this time, I would not go back to DC for this, I will probably stick with this local dealer if they do a good job on this repair..