hey all,

i rode in my cousin's integra today. being hot as it was, he turned on the AC. man, there was this musty smell/odor coming from his vents afterwards. what's the best way to get rid of that smell? what do you recommend?

thanks!

 

Once it's in there it's not easy to irradicate, there are mold spores growing down there and that's what's smelling. Febreeze might work but may be a temporary fix, he might try spraying a product used to combat mold odor down there like lysol or that clorox air freshner (and leave the car open for a while).

I CAN tell you how to prevent this. Shut off your A/C before turning off the car always. I used to live in the sweltering hell that is S. Florida and eventually always ended up with the stench you describe but after I met my (now) wife she told me that a dealer (of all people) told her when she bought her last car that if she would do this that smell wouldn't come in time. 4 years later on her 4-runner, same on her Mom's Camry, and now 1 year on my S and for whatever reason there's no horrible A/C odors on any of them. As adept at a lot of automotive areas as I feel like I am I still don't understand it but it's hard to question something that's working.

Travis

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tkeedy

I CAN tell you how to prevent this.

 

Always leave the fan running for a minute or two after shutting off the a/c. I do this before I pull in my neighborhood all the time.

 

Well, to this point I've only just shut off the a/c it's self, we totally shutoff the system in her car (because it has a simple off button). My theory is that switching off the compressor closes some sort of valve, but I'd love to have someone with better knowledge of the entire system 'splain this.

 

You might want to try one of these products:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/1z961105.html
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/wus-8909900.html

I like the 1Z product best. It has the ability to get into the vent (hose provided) to kill what's growing and freshen up the smell of the whole system.

db

 

My sister had this problem. The way I fixed it was every night I sprayed a TON of lysol in the vents and let it sit there over night for about a week. It killed the mildew and the smell was gone.

 

Just move to where there is NO humidity . Lysol dose work btw.

 

lotsa great ideas above, from household products to auto specific!!

 

funny - i went to my local shop today to get a sticker and he was working on a fairly new Altima - he showed me where a mouse got stuck in the blower motor and passed away - boy did it smell bad - anyway i asked him how he is going to get rid of the oder and he had a can of the 1z stuff.. said all he had to do was spray the vents and wait

i would also tell your friend to change the a/c filter as well