Since I bought my car about a month and a half ago, I've been smelling a very strong and horrible musty smell coming from the vents. It only happens after the A/C was used and turned off. When I asked the dealer he told me they could change the filter, and do this service where they spray some stuff for almost $200. He wasn't 100% sure that it would go away though, so I didn't do it. Lately it's been getting worse. It's embarassing when I have someone else in the car, and they smell it - and are like "this is a luxury car.. ??"

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how have you resolved it? Is it just the filter? A friend told me the filter is an easy replacement and I could do it myself rather than pay 200 bucks, so I'm going to look into that. Will that solve the smell problem?

Let me know if anyone else has had success in getting rid of this horrible odor.

Thanks!

 

quit farting in your car with the recirculation on and windows up!

 

The smell has nothing to do with the filter, it's condensation in the AC piping causing bacteria to grow and that foul smell to emanate;

The key is to keep the internal AC pipes dry, and you can achieve this by turning off the AC but keep the air blowing for like 2 minutes before you arrive at your destination. If you do this on a regular basis, the smell will go away.

 

Thanks man. I will definitely start doing this. Hopefully it goes away soon.

Thanks again.

 

Although, it probably wouldn't hurt to change your filter. You can find the DIY here on the forums. Takes about 30 minutes, and can make a difference as well.

 

This post reminds me of that Seinfeld episode...

"THE SMELLY CAR"

 

I'd say it is definitely the filter.

 

Definitely thought of the Seinfeld episode as I opened this thread. I've started running the vents with no A/C on to let the condensation out. I will look-up the DIY on here on how to change the filter, and do that too. Hopefully that takes care of it.

Any other thoughts/ideas will be much appreciated.

Thanks Guys!

 

So, did you get rid of the smell? Was it the filter? Did turning the AC off 2 minutes prior to arrival help?

 

I thought I did (get rid of the smell), but then the warmer weather came around and it came back. I recently changed the filter, and bought some mold spray stuff from Auto Zone. I sprayed that stuff all up in the vents, through the outer windshield dash vent, directly in the vents, and then through the cabin air intake. It seems to have made a difference. I'm going to repeat this a couple more times to hopefully completely get rid of the smell. A friend also advised me to run the heat full blast on a hot day to cook the bacteria out. Haven't done this yet since it hasn't been super hot yet. Last resort will be to spend the dough and have a professional company do some kind of high tech cleaning. Hope I don't get to that level though.

Are you having a similar problem... ???

 

OZIUM in the AC intake grates.

Thats what the dealer does!!

 

i changed my filter and it fixed mines.

 

usually you just need a filter change

 

check the drain hose on the evaporator coil.

I worked on my old civic a/c and forgot to put the drain hose through the firewall.

The evaporator coils filled with water and the passenger carpet got wet. I had to take it out and push the drain hose through the firewall.

Moister and mold could form from that.