Bad smell (well gross) coming from the A/c when running and a clicking sound, it's quiet on "one" and on "4" it's loud..
At least it lasted all of summer..

What could be the issue here?

Me= girl who knows bugger all...

the bad smell could be anything from a dead animal to a burning out blower motor. the click will definitely be coming from the blower box. Mine clicks to, but it is not loud at all, just audible, so unless its really loud, dont worry about the click.

puting both together, it could be a dead animal in the blower box haha. but you cant tell until you pull it apart, unless it is a mould smell.

Nah not mould just gross. It was fine this morning and after dricing about 20 minutes it started a really soft click and that smell... I doubt there are wild animals on the rooftop carpark in Innaloo shopping centre ;)

When I bought my KJ, it had a mega-bad case of "bad-breath" in the air-con - it came from the coast where they obviously had lots more humidity than where I live. There must have been a lovely colony of slime or something in the nether-regions of the air-con box and ducts.

I tried spraying "Glen20" into air-con intake (both from outside the car on "fresh" and from passenger footwell on "recirc". This helped somewhat, but never entirely got the smell away. Then I saw a pressure-pack of specialist air-con deodoriser at a car service place in town, made by "Wurth" - was quite exxy, but I've only used it one time and its tamed the smell for quite a while now.

The clicking sound, if it varies according to fan speed, is likely to be items caught in the fan. Could be leaves or twigs (if decomposing can add to the smell), or it could be something small and furry (and now deceased). Removing fan is quite easy - its under the glovebox area.

I've had to retrieve a dead mouse out of my parents TJ - was not mashed or anything, but dessicated and found in the middle of the fan/blower "cage".

It would be a good idea to check/clear your fan, in case whatever is causing the "clicks" progresses to a/ jamming the fan (buring out your fan motor), or b/ buggering the bearings on your fan motor due to the imbalance caused.

Try running the fan on hot and highest setting for 10mins or so, I had the same thing in my GTV and once the leaf dried out, it just discintegrated....

Ok I topped up my coolant today and noticed that the odor coming out of the a/c is a similar smell to the coolant.. Problem?

if it is the coolant making the smell, it is likley that is is a leaky heater core. there are heaps of threads on how to tell, and replce. (if it is this)

On the pass side of the car, lift back the carpet on the inner front side of the pass foot well, you will see a white cover attached to the fire wall where the engine harness comes into the car, this and the area below is generally where the coolant will run down

Given you have had to top up the coolant as well as it smells similar I would say is your issue, it is very common

It is not the heater core itself, there are 2 seals there that leak, they are worth about 4 bucks and will require your dash to be removed to replace

Well throwing another spanner in the works! The smell is gone, no coolant that I can see inside the car, the carpet isn't wet. The only time I get the clicking sound (which is quiet) is when the a/c is on, not the fan alone... Compressor maybe?

Does the AC still pump out cold air? If not, the clicking may be the compressor switching on and off. Needs a regas. There is a pressure switch in the AC circuit which cuts power to the compressor if the pressure is low, to protect the compressor. Get it regassed and all will be hunkey dorey.

Your car is getting on in age, but my 2 magnas haven't been regassed for 12 years (at least) and are still working AC wise, so if you do get it done, ask them to check for leaks, ok?

The AC should be run preferably at least once a week, even during winter! this helps keep the seals lubricated which will negate the need for a regassing (or at least delay it a lot). Its when people go the whole of the end of autumn, winter, and most of spring without running it and they turn it on, only to find it doesn't work as well after a year or two and need a regas. Places that regas aircons love the fact that people don't do that, its good for their business!

That's old news. Used to be true many years ago, but not now. Modern seal materials and lubricants don't care if you use the aircon once a year or weekly, urban legend, that is/was. But you do whatever you think is best for your car.

Ice cold, plus I use it everyday anyway

mmmmm . . . The Mystery Deepens . . . . Better Get A Real Mechanic To Look At It!

Yeah I'm thinking that may be the way to go.. May as well get the 200xxx service at the same time...

Funny thing is it still seems to be true, otherwise an aircon would never need regassing...

Funny thing is it still seems to be true, otherwise an aircon would never need regassing...

R134A has a small leak rate for every meter of hose in your AC system. Was only a minute fraction but over a few years it adds up. R134A will need to be re-gassed anyway during its lifetime. Was something like after it looses 30% of its charge it will no longer be cold. Compared to the old R12 gas (How I love thee diamante) which can loose approx 60% of charge before it needs to be gassed up.

If any of the above IS false please do say so as I do believe what I said is correct.

Yep, you is correct! all refrigerant R12 systems with hoses leak somewhat, that's why most of the non flexing part of the system has aluminium pipes rather than hoses all the way through. R134A is worse for this that R12, so old systems that were converted needed special barrier hoses fitted. Loss can't be helped unfortunately. Running the AC once a week has no effect on this.

A company in the UK will sell you a can of R134A, hose and pressure gauge for a DIY top-up. Needs to be shipped by surface mail though.

I used that set, made by Wurth to fix a clicking compressor, was due to low oil. the set had a few cans that contained the right lube and used the R134a gas to get it in the system. it fixed my clicking, but i still need a regas as the aircon isnt cold. i used 6 cans all up and still no cold air. no leaks, the kit came with a small pen blacklight to check for leaks (the gas/oil has the colour added that glows in blacklight) .

Yeah has a small amount of UV reactive dye added.

Just take it to an auto elec to get checked out.