a/c odor

[discojunkie76]

When i fire up the a/c I get a nasty musty smell wondering if anyone else has had this problem, I'm pretty sure it's not the cabin filter either.

[kevera]

That's fairly normal.If your cabin filter is clean.I spray a little lysol in the Vents 2 times a year,now I don't get that swampy smell anymore.

[BlueCrush]

Actually it might be the cabin filter. Whe I have changed mine it had water stains on it from my windshield washer fluid. Has it rained much there lately? Other than that I don't recall ever having a musty smell upon A/C start-up.

[kevera]

All my vehicles seem to get that musty smell.It doesn't last long,just for 10 seconds or so,but since the Lysol trick hasn't happen since.Do you smoke BTW,that won't help either.But the cabin filter holds alot of funky smells to.

[BlueCrush]

The cabin filter really doesn't do jack for smells from the outside of the car I can smell everything from every car around when driving, even when brand new. I wish there was a charcoal/carbon activated filter for the cabin. That would be great for outside smells.But, back to the A/C odor...

[kevera]

But you don't smoke,I do.When I changed my filter,it had a funky ashtray and dirt smell,so it does hold some odors.It doesn't trap odors,they pass right threw it,but it will retain some smell.Plus you said,Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Actually it might be the cabin filter. Whe I have changed mine it had water stains on it from my windshield washer fluid. Has it rained much there lately? Other than that I don't recall ever having a musty smell upon A/C start-up.

[ColonelPanic]

You need to run lots of disinfectant through the system and replace the cabin air filter. Once that's done, the key to keeping this from happening again is to make sure you allow the system to drain out as much water as you possibly can. If you park the car with the A/C on, there is still going to be water hanging out that becomes stagnant, then things start to grow in the evaporator and what not... A few minutes before you get to where you're going, turn off the A/C and turn the fan on high. This helps rid the system of water quicker and will help dry out the evaporator. I now swear by this, it works great. Had some pretty nasty stench coming from the vents of the Vibe, that's for sure. No more though.BTW, I have some stuff here on what I did to fix the Vibe when I had it... http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19575