[wwc310]

I've done a few searches with no luck. My car is spotless on the interior. No stains, no food inside, and I vaccum every week. A few days ago when I flipped on the A/C i noticed a foul, odory smell. I every time I have turned it on since I have noticed the same smell.

What could it be? It's the same smell wether it's the air circulating from the inside or the direct flow from the outside.

Thanks

[AnthonyT]

[QUOTE=wwc310;15151202]I've done a few searches with no luck. My car is spotless on the interior. No stains, no food inside, and I vaccum every week. A few days ago when I flipped on the A/C i noticed a foul, odory smell. I every time I have turned it on since I have noticed the same smell.

What could it be? It's the same smell wether it's the air circulating from the inside or the direct flow from the outside.

Thanks[/QUOTE

Does it sort of smell like sweat/dirty motel room?

[wwc310]

Ha...um actually ya.

[techietaichi]

When was the last time you changed out your cabin air filter? You may need to start with that.

[biffman49]

I had this happen to my car - previous owner lived in Florida, ran the AC all the time, but always circulated and never had it on the outside air function. Mold built up and it smelled musty every time I'd run the AC.

I can't remember off hand, but I'm sure they replaced the cabin air filter and sprayed some stuff in the kill the mold. Maybe replaced the evaporator? I'll check my service record when I get home and reply then.

[shadow191]

Cabin filter will help, but not much. They typically dry out very quickly. It's usually mold somewhere in the system and they do make some sort of spray that will help kill it. On my other car, I got the smell intermittently after it would rain a lot. I changed the cabin filters 3 times trying to fix it and eventually just ran the system on max a lot and that ended up resolving it. If you get rid of the moisture, that will usually get rid of mold.

[mike-y]

to keep this from happening, make sure to turn off the recirculate function from time to time, so fresh air can be pushed through the system. Also, before you turn off your car, turn the AC button off, and allow non-conditioned, outside air to blow through the vents for a few minutes. this will help dry out any moisture trapped in the vent system.

changing the cabin filter won't help the stuff that's inside the vents. you may be able to get rid of the smell by blowing outside air through the vents for a few days, but getting that spray stuff (maybe lisol would work?) in the vents will speed it up.

[Judge Dredd]

mildew

[///Mposter]

Use an ozone machine for 15 minutes. Kills mold and smells fresh instead of using Lysol and it smelling like you are covering up farts in a bathroom.

[wwc310]

Originally Posted by techietaichi

When was the last time you changed out your cabin air filter? You may need to start with that.

the car only has 15,000 miles on it. Is it really possible for this issue on a car that isnt even two years old?

[raj55]

I remember that during my last service they changed the cabin filter and the technitian sprayed some foamy stuff on the cabin filter before mounting it in the car. It smelt nice and sweet then and it still smells so when I start the car. It is always on the auto mode so air condituion is on to get rid of the moisture. But in your case if you suspect mould, try spraying some air condition cleaner while you leave your car in the recirculation mode and started to get rid of mould and fungus,. Here they use this.

[FrozenM3nace]

I had the same thing happen last week and it was some rats that pooped on my manifold and it still smells.

[biffman49]

Originally Posted by wwc310

the car only has 15,000 miles on it. Is it really possible for this issue on a car that isnt even two years old?

I don't know if it was cabin filter, but for my issue, my vehicle had only 14k miles on it when purchased. My issue was similar to OP.

[Trespassers W]

Had the same problem recently (~30K miles). From my experience, replacing cabin filter wouldn't help much, the smell is coming from bacteria/mold growing in the HVAC unit, specifically on/around evaporator coil. The moisture that accumulates there is a paradise for bacteria.

Here is what you need: Klima Cleaner Professional.

There are two ways to apply it - one is to insert the spray tube down to HVAC unit through the central air vents on your dashboard, another one is to remove the cabin filter and guide the tube to the evaporator coil between the fan fins. I found it rather difficult to get through the central vents, probably because of all those air distribution valves that close when the car is not running, so I used the second approach.

You need to make sure that the tube is inserted deep enough and actually went down to the HVAC unit and not bent around the fan somewhere, otherwise the cleaner fluid will short and kill the fan motor.

Once you get the tube inserted properly, the rest is easy - pour the container, let it sit there for about 30 minutes and drive around with you windows open and fan on full speed. Chemical odor goes away in a couple of days, fresh air stays.