A/C Smell

[IFlyEm]

So I've had my car for 7 months and 7000 miles. They other day I started getting a really foul sour smell whenever I got into my car and the AC turned on. It would get a little better as I would drive but would never fully go away. Ironically, it started happening immediately after getting the car cleaned at the dealer. I thought maybe some cleaner got caught somewhere.

I took it back to the dealer to determine the cause. I was told that most likely the AC needed to be serviced and that odor issues from mildew or mold it wasn't covered under the warranty. They suggested that I turn off the A/C 10 mins before I get to my destination and that should help. That seems ridiculous to me. One I live in the the desert so moisture shouldnt be an issue and two it's seems silly that I would have to shut off my A/C the last ten minutes of my trip. Heck, a lot of my trips aren't much more than that. ALso, its going to get pretty dang uncomfortable pretty quick when its 110 degrees out. Pretty disappointing for a $90,000 vehicle. I've never had a vehicle in 30 years that had to have the A/C shut off to dry out.

Anyway, they covered the service this one time. Unfortunately, the smell is still somewhat perceivable. Anyone else dealing with this? Thanks

[MattBianco]

see if you can form this habit. about 2-5 minutes before arriving at your destination blast your fan and turn off the AC. It helps keep the insides dry. An old mechanic told me that 20+ years ago, and knock on wood, so far I have had smell free AC even when I lived in very humid/tropical places.

[IFlyEm]

I'll give it a shot.

Thanks!

[turboawd]

my old 5 series used to suffer from this.
every so often, i'd remove the ductwork under the engine to expose the vent intake. then i'd spray a ton of scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner or evaporator cleaner in there, while the ac was running.
supposedly, when you shut the car off, the moisture in the evaporator inside the car, would stay wet for a while and start to mold.

[spike5150]

I had this happen to me on my E70. Could never get rid of it (until I traded it in...)

[MattBianco]

You may want to try several YouTube remedies to clean the system first, and then follow the regiment I do (post #2).

[Doanster]

1Z Klima Cleaner always does the trick for me.
MattBianco's suggestion is indeed the tried and true method to prevent new mold since you dry out the system before arriving home.
I've mentioned this in past threads, but manufacturers should take a cue from Volvo and implement an "after blow" feature. Ten minutes after shutting the car down, it recognizes that the A/C was used so it turns the fans on high for ten minutes, then shuts them off. In eleven years of owning our (now gone) XC90, I never had any hint of A/C stink.
It's a simple s/w update, but no one other than Volvo has ever implemented it for some reason.

[artem123]

Replacing cabin filter is part of maintenance. BMW does it ones per year. Replace cabin air filter and smell will disappear. BTW replacing this filter is very easy and does not cost much. Every indie will do it for a few $

[turboawd]

Originally Posted by artem123

Replacing cabin filter is part of maintenance. BMW does it ones per year. Replace cabin air filter and smell will disappear. BTW replacing this filter is very easy and does not cost much. Every indie will do it for a few $

the smell has nothing to do with the filter. its mold growing on the ac evaporator coil, because the car gets shut off, and the cold coil still has a lot of moisture in there, and it just stays wet since the fan dont blow when the car is off.

[Doanster]

^^^This. Periodic filter replacement is a good thing, but as turboawd stated, the smell is due to mold on the evaporator, not the filter...

[artem123]

Originally Posted by turboawd

the smell has nothing to do with the filter. its mold growing on the ac evaporator coil, because the car gets shut off, and the cold coil still has a lot of moisture in there, and it just stays wet since the fan dont blow when the car is off.

Well, i am not saying that you are not right, however, did anyone ever take out a cabin filter and smell it? I know i have done it and it smells exactly that odor that comes from vents. Just saying. Needless to say every time after filter replacement odor is gone.

[kanvas]

Happened to me once. I just put the AC on full power and opened the windows as to "get rid of the odor" for a minute. Then turned it off. Waited a bit and turned it back on on low power. Smell mostly went away.

[tek_tez_LI]

I have the same issue. After 11 months and 9000 miles, the smell was unbearable although it lasts the first few minutes. Keep in mind that even if it is few minutes, we still breath this “moldy” air. Not sure about the health implications.

Anyway, I made an appointment with the dealer in August. They have replaced the filter and treated the HVAC parts with some chemical. It was good for few weeks. Then I got the same smell. Had another visit to dealer and they cleaned again. That was the end of September. I was also told that this is “natural” and would go away after few minutes.

It is utterly stupid for an 80K car to have a problem like this. I had Honda’s before and did not have any problem like this. I believe, Honda’s also have some sort of AC Cool Down feature that runs the fan after the engine stopped. I guess we have to live with this…

[JNoSol]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

see if you can form this habit. about 2-5 minutes before arriving at your destination blast your fan and turn off the AC. It helps keep the insides dry. An old mechanic told me that 20+ years ago, and knock on wood, so far I have had smell free AC even when I lived in very humid/tropical places.

+1. No residual moisture from condensation, nothing grows on dry bare aluminum.