Vent odor

[A12BEE]

Hello All,New guy to the site and I could use your help. Early this spring I bought an AWD 2005 Silver Vibe for my 18 year old daughter. Wonderful car and she loves it but...There is a strong odor coming from the vent system, it doesn't smell like rotten eggs or sulfur as discucced on this board, but is a very "musty" smell. Yesterday I picked it up after a 4 day visit to a repair shop and after they pulled the dash apart, cleaned tubing and the heater box I was crushed when I starteded the car up after getting it home and again, the smell is still there! Please help!!

[bull77]

welcome to the siteyou might want to try replacing your cabin air filter and putting a downy sheet there for extra freshness http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=982

[A12BEE]

I guess I should have mentioned it, but that was the first thing I tried.( the cabin air filter ). I hate to hide the smell as there may be mold and spores involved. This is my little girl's car...

[keithvibe]

the last time she drove the car did she have the Air conditioner on?if so the water left in the condensor stagnated and is causing the odorto prevent this odor. turn the air off about 2-3miles from home and leave the fan on HI this will run air over the condensor and dry up the left over water.

[JohnC]

[QUOTE= turn the air off about 2-3miles from home and leave the fan on HI this will run air over the condensor and dry up the left over water.[/QUOTE]Your service person or mechanic should have told you this. To help get rid of the problem short term you can spray Lysol into the intake vents and/or into the cabin filter ductwork.

[A12BEE]

thanks for all the replies..they didn't tell me about turning the A/C off a few mile before shutting the car off. I've never had to do that with a car before?All summer I've been spraying Lysol into the vents but it seemed to be masking the real problem. In the summer heat it was Foul! The smell was ever present with A/C running or just the fan.My wife thought something had died in there. I really expected the auto shop to say "Wow, we found a mess in there!", but they never did. They also claimed none of the drains were found plugged. There must be some place we/they aren't checking?

[zionzr2]

Try sprayin some lysol in the intake vent (outside below the windshield) with the filter removed and the system running (just not on RECIRC)This will draw the dis-infecting properties of the lysol through the system.

[ColonelPanic]

The Lysol trick mentioned above works.It may be beneficial if you remove the cowl trim and spray directly into the intake instead of just spraying it on the vent holes in the cowl trim, you'll get more in that way. I snapped a few pics back in the day of the procedure here: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19575As was mentioned above, making sure you cut the A/C (or defrost) a few minutes before arriving at your destination is a must with these things to keep the smell away.

[djb383]

The main reason for the musty smell is operating the A/C in the max/recirculate mode for long periods of time. The previous owner probably is to blame. Use max/recirculate as little as possible and the musty smell will gradually disappear.

[A12BEE]

Thank again guys, I'll take all those suggestions! Dan

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by A12BEE »Yesterday I picked it up after a 4 day visit to a repair shop and after they pulled the dash apart, cleaned tubing and the heater box I was crushed when I starteded the car up after getting it home and again, the smell is still there!This thread mentions that leaves or a nest might have collected underneath the outside air vents. Might be worth a check, since the repair shop seems to not have done that.

[Paleogirl2003]

I notice this musty smell as well when I use the fan rather than AC, so I just resorted to using the AC all of the time. I will definitely try the tip of turning the AC off a few miles before I get home.Thanks!