Car Air Conditioner Smell

[GolfVenture]

Anyone have a good inexpensive solution to getting rid of the early smell from a car's air conditioner?

[Zzyzx]

Let the car warm up to running temp then turn the defroster on with max-heat setting, open the windows and let it run for 5 minutes or so.

This helps to dry out much of the condensation gunk that builds up during winter.

If the smell persists you can sprinkle a little baking soda into the outer air inlet vent below the windshield but make sure the inlet is real dry.

Let the baking soda set in the dry inlet so it can start to absorb, just like in a refrigerator.

When it rains or you wash the car it will flush out the soda so no need to do anything else.

If you run the A/C or defroster/heater before the soda gets rinsed out you may get a little dusting inside the car.

[V7Goose]

I do not know what an "early smell" is, but there should not be any smell at all from a car AC. Two possibilities - if the smell is sweet, then it is possible that your heater core is leaking (the air runs through the same place). But you should have been smelling this anytime you turned on the fan with the temp turned up for heat. Second possibility is more likely, especially if the smell is musty - drain is plugged up in the air box where the cooling coil is located. This is fairly common and leads to lots of mold and mildew. Unfortunately, once that stuff starts, it is quite hard to totally clean out. One clue to the drain issue is to run the AC during a humid day and see if you get the normal water puddle somewhere under the front of the car - most often it is on the passenger side near the inside rear of the front tire. If you see water dripping after the AC has been on for a little while, then the drain is open - no drips and you have a problem.

Goose

[Bob Myers]

On my magnum and wife's 300 Chrysler if you run the AC with "recirculate" air on it will get the musty smell, and if you are like wife, set off your allergies from the mold. I was advised by Chrysler to dump about half a can of febreeze into the same outer grill that was mentioned aabove. And then, if you run the ac on recirculate you should always turn recirculate off and let ac run for a while to dry out the inside of the ac box

[ragtop69gs]

Also check your cabin air filer, it may be time for a change.

[Money Venture]

Rent an ozone generator. Run it over the weekend with the doors and windows closed. It actually kills the smell it doesn't mask it.

[Venturous Randy]

Also check your cabin air filer, it may be time for a change.

 

Ditto on the cabin filter. Many cars from the late 90's to early 2000's have cabin filters and it does make a difference, especially if the car has ever been smoked in. I changed the cabin filters in my Infiniti I35 and I suspect they were original.

Randy

[MikeWa]

Brian

Spray some Lysol in the vents including the inlet under the dash. Let the car sit overnight. The smell should be gone the next day.

 

Mike