I remember there being a thread about this, but I can't seem to get it through search.

It seems that whenever I turn OFF my AC, there's a putrid smell. It doesn't last for a few seconds, it's ALWAYS smelling funky. I heard that if you put the heat up to max and full power for twenty minutes it will somehow melt the smell away? Haha I don't know, I'll let the pros help me.

Thanks!

 

1. turn your AC off about 30 seconds before you get to where you are. Leave the fan running so the condenser is not cold. Condensation = feeds mold = smell

2. turn on heater full blast for about 20 minutes.

3. spray your in-cabin filter with lysol or equivilent. Finish up with febreeze and let it air out.

4. replace filter.


Prevention is the best way, aka #1.

 

Its yo uppah lip boy!

 

Should the windows be down or up? Car engine running? for the heater part.

Thanks! And yeah it might be my upper lip

 

Doesn't matter... you're just running hot air through the system. You can recirculate and do it windows up if you want it super hot

 

Hi, I got an FX, same problem. and it's a design problem in earlier FX..
Off A/C, Open vent to external air, run it before turn car off, spray lysol is what some recommend. They are some aftermarket sprays available. don't recall the name.

 

check your cabin air filter behind the glove box

 

Yeah like Mike said, once you get rid of the smell just make sure you turn your AC off about a minute or so before you shut the car off. The engine heat will evaporte any of the condensation from the AC, that is whats causing the smell.

 

Yep i had the same problem. It just went away by itself after a while. I would have assumed that the engine heat would still evaporate the condensation even if you don't turn off the AC compressor a few minutes before.

 

Ah, glad I read up, mine has a B.O. Odor when I fire it up at times too.

 

How many miles did it take? Im hitting 5000 and it still smells.

 

Oh, if you use recirculate a lot, this problem is a lot worse.

 

Well i played with the "fresh air" setting rather than the "recirculating" for a while and that seemed to help. i got the problem for about 2-3 weeks and then it went away by itself.

i had an appointment with the dealership to "ionize" it or something but by the time the appointment came it was not necessary anymore.

 

In my FX earlier, dealer sprayed it with Ozonium(?) (white bottle, blue lettering.) I almost passed out b/c it was so strong. Still have brain damage from it.
Couldn't believe he charged me for the ozonium bottle.
Again, there are after market sprays into the vent and even some chemicals you can put directly in the A/C refrigerant system to clean it out direct from there.
Anti mildew clorox MAY/WOULD work, dont know if it would damage anything in the vents - plastic or rubber. anyone know?

Someone on the FX forum swabbed it, sent it to a lab and found some toxic mold. He had kids, so he sold the car. I guess he cared more for his kids than the car.

 

Well, the whole point of the filter is to CAPTURE the mold, and prevent it from going in the cabin.

If he found it on the filter, then the filter is obviously doing its job since it's on the filter and not inside the passenger cabin....

The guy's a genius for selling the car for functioning the way it's supposed to....