Sweat feet that have been in rubber shoes all day.
What can I do? I called the dealership. They said to spray lysol. :rolleyes:
How can I rid my car of this odor? It’s only 2 years old!
“AC stink” is pretty common. Its caused by (jeez, I guess I don’t really know! Good damn thing this isn’t “General Questions”)!
I think it has something to do with the condensor. Don’t worry, run it enough and it either goes away or you get used to it.
Mold. Thats my answer. But I live where no mold has gone before. (Kinda “Star Trekkie” reference, there!)
There are some products especially for that. They are sold in aerosol cans with a very long (about 1 meter) rubber nozzles. You insert the nozzle all the way in and spray. A/C service shops use them, but I don’t know where can you find one commercialy.
I wanted to say: “you insert the nozzle all the way into the air ducts” :smack:
It is caused by moisture collecting in a damp enviroment (the evaporator) inside the A/C system. Causes mold and mildew.
Running the system on recirculation makes it worse.
Try this. Go for a ride in the evening. Turn off the A/C compressor, but leave the fan on high (set to fresh air). Open the sunroof, or crack the windows, drive this way for at least 20 minutes (the longer the better) The car should start to smell better in short order. If the mold/mildew is not too bad this will fix it. If it is medium bad, go the Lysol route. When it is very bad, the mold will eat Lysol for breakfast and ask for more. :smack: At this point it is time to take the car to a pro, they will have to dissasmble the A/C part way to access the evaporator and spay some super duper stuff direct on the evap, and then cure it. Not fun, but effective.
Automotive air conditioning evaporators typically live in a box under the dashboard along with heater cores. When the AC is running, water vapor condenses on the evaporator surface and collects as liquid. A hose then allows the liquid to drain from the system, producing the pee puddle customary beneath vehicles in the summertime.
The bottom end of the hose typically contains a valve which allows exit of fluid while preventing entry of insects, road dirt, and door-to-door salespeople.
If the hose or valve have become blocked, moisture collects in the box, and together with darkness and crud, will conspire to grow smelly cooties. Make sure the drain line is clear before working on other corrections.
A quick fix if you’re at all handy with dashboard de/reconstruction is to put dryer sheets behind the vents. This should help with the smell until you can have it fixed. Get the kind that have baking soda in them, I think Bounce has some. It worked for me in a truck that smelled of cat’s piss every time I put the blower on.
Have you checked to see if Al Bundy is trapped under the hood?
- Remove covers to vents
- Take old stinky feet out of duct, replace with new, clean feet
- Replace covers
This isn’t any help but I want to tell it anyway.
I use to have some pet snakes. To feed the small one I’d pick up some mice at the pet shop. They give you the mouse in a plastic bag wich is enough to get the little guy home without oxygen concerns. Considering his fate, asphyixiation might seem preferable.
So I have the mouse bag in the passenger seat and when I get home, sure enough, he’s chewed his way to freedom.
So I have the car in the lot with both doors open and I’m chasing the little cheese-eating bastard through my car: inside the seats, under floormats, etc. Finally, I lose him and realize that he must have jumped out of the door and scampered. Damn. Snake will have to eat another day.
So the next day I get in the car to get to work. It’s June and about 95 degrees with high humidity. The car is baking so I turn on the AC. Then I turn on the fan. Instead of the normal sound, the fan makes a sound like a tiny bicycle wheel with somewhat soft playing cards in the spokes. Awwww Maaaaan…
Yeah, the little guy died. In the AC fan. I thought that was pretty bad but I didn’t know BAD until after work when I got inthe car again. The car that had been in the 95 degree heat and humidity all…day…long.
I spent two weeks driving with my head out of the window. I didn’t have tailgaters the whole time and nobody bummed a ride.
That was ten years ago or so and I still have that car. Sometimes the ghost of the smell returns, but it’s rare.
Actually the car talk guys recommend the lysol thing too. Just to be clear, what they mean is that you crank on the AC full blast and spray the lysol into the intake vents (outside the car) so that the AC system will suck the lysol all through the vent system. I’ve never had to deal with a moldy AC, but supposedly lysol is quick, cheap, and usually fairly effective from what I’ve heard.
Every thread has at least ONE intelligent post. This is that post. My only addition would be to start the engine, turn on the AC, let it run for a decent amount of time, turn off the engine, get out of the car, look underneath to see if there is a puddle forming. If not, drain is blocked.
My car has the same problem but it smells like musty water or sour milk.
In addition there is a lot of water that drips from under the passenger dash.
Searching throught the net I’m convinced that the condensor runoff line is clogged like others have mentioned.
Problem is I don’t know how to get it unclogged. I can find the condensor under the passenger dash along with the drain line that runs from it to the firewall, but I lose it from there.
Any help? It’s a common 97’ Accord.
I seem to recall from “Car Talk” on NPR that this is a common problem with Accords. You might check their website to see if a solution is posted. I seem to recall that they recommended having another drain line installed, but my memory could be faulty.
Newer cars are equipped with carbon air filters, typically on the passenger side, that need to be changed every year or two (depending on how frequently you run your AC). The most significant indication of “time to change the filter” is a “dirty-sock-type” smell (along with various respiratory complaints on the part of the driver). Check and see if your car has one, and who in the area can replace it (it’s a fairly simple fix- a dealer or typical auto shop should be able to help you).
Barring that, yeah, what everyone else said.
Within the last few weeks, they were talking to a caller about a Honda with a blocked AC drain line. They told the fellow to use a compressed air source to blow back into the evaporator area through the drain line. That made no sense to me at all, as the debris is still there, waiting to begin the blocking process all over again.
Most of the time they’re pretty good, and other times I look at my radio in disbelief and say, WTF?
Regarding your car Hampshire, is the drain line from the evaporator box made of a soft, flexible rubber? If so, you should be able to pull it free from the evaporator box. You might want to put old towels on the passenger side floor to soak up any standing water in the system. Then use a shop vac to suck debris from the evaporator outlet. Move the hose on the vac from intake to exhaust, and than you can try to blow the discharge line free. Remember that there may be a valve in the end of the line. On my truck it is just press-fitted, and the shop vac might blow the valve out of the hose end. Good luck.
Thanks for the compliment, Chefguy. 
I was gonna write something like this, but JerH beat me to it.
I love this Board.
If you do the lysol thing, be sure to put the a/c on recirc before you spray it.
Then let the car idle with the a/c running for a while. Of course then your
car might end up lysol smelling.
I’ve heard that Wurth makes a product that’s supposed to work well although I have no experience with it. It was recommended on some BMW board.
BMW 5 series (E39) get really stinky.
Mine smells when I start the car but it goes away after that.
I agree with Chefguy - danceswithcats nailed it.
The hose usually exits the firewall at a point behind the engine, on the passenger side, and angles down. The best way to reach it is with the vehicle on a lift.
Clearing this drain hose is the only permanent solution to the problem.