Funky smelling Air Conditioning

[Andrew/USPWR]

Smell like stale air. Any body have any ideas what causes this in the recycle mode? And how to get rid of it?

I have the same smell when I use the rear a/c in my Suburban. Been that way seen it was new, took it to Chevy and they sprayed some white air deodorizer in the vents. [******] Didn’t do a thing.

 

[twinturbo3150]

take a shower first, might be BO!!!!!!! Just kidding. Could there be something in the vents, like a dead animal of some sort? About 5 years ago I was installing a stereo for a customer who bought a brand new honda accord. And when I opened the door, I said WOO, what's that smell. She replied I dont know, and I have taken it to the dealer and they cant find the problem. Well I took the front seat out to install a amp, and as I lifted up the carpet, I almost passed out from the smell. I dont know how it got there but there was a dead RAT underneath the carpet. The weird thing was that the rat was right in line of the left front seat bolt. So whoever tightened the bolt, stuck it right through the rat. My guess is that someone got ********** at the factory and put the rat there on purpose, nowing it would cause Havoc on somebody.

 

[quick2tr]

Although I dont have a solution for fixing it, it sounds like it might be mold on the evaporator side of the AC. Have heard that if you dont shut down the A/C for the last 5 minutes of your drive you can have an ice block in there leaves the system damp and molding.

 

[DocAdam]

It is mold on the evaporator side of the AC. I had it repeatedly in my tahoe.

Easiest solution, get a can of athletes foot spray and let loose into the duct. It really works, kills all the mold/funk.

 

[FASTFUN]

Does anybody ever have a slight coolant smell from their AC ducts?

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

take a shower first, might be BO!!!!!!! Just kidding. Could there be something in the vents, like a dead animal of some sort? About 5 years ago I was installing a stereo for a customer who bought a brand new honda accord. And when I opened the door, I said WOO, what's that smell. She replied I dont know, and I have taken it to the dealer and they cant find the problem. Well I took the front seat out to install a amp, and as I lifted up the carpet, I almost passed out from the smell. I dont know how it got there but there was a dead RAT underneath the carpet. The weird thing was that the rat was right in line of the left front seat bolt. So whoever tightened the bolt, stuck it right through the rat. My guess is that someone got ********** at the factory and put the rat there on purpose, nowing it would cause Havoc on somebody.

Thats the nastiest thing I think I've read on this website

 

[FLOORIN04]

take a shower first, might be BO!!!!!!! Just kidding. Could there be something in the vents, like a dead animal of some sort? About 5 years ago I was installing a stereo for a customer who bought a brand new honda accord. And when I opened the door, I said WOO, what's that smell. She replied I dont know, and I have taken it to the dealer and they cant find the problem. Well I took the front seat out to install a amp, and as I lifted up the carpet, I almost passed out from the smell. I dont know how it got there but there was a dead RAT underneath the carpet. The weird thing was that the rat was right in line of the left front seat bolt. So whoever tightened the bolt, stuck it right through the rat. My guess is that someone got ********** at the factory and put the rat there on purpose, nowing it would cause Havoc on somebody.

honda+rat=lunch leftover

 

[edretti]

It's definitely mold and a very good point made about leaving the blower run a few minutes prior to turning off the a/c with the compressor off. What we do at work is get this bottle of mold killer that's called frigi fresh. It's made by mopar and we spray it through the floor and turn on the defroster so it ***** it up and gets it all over the evaporator. You can also spray it from the outside air intake to the dash and turn on the front vents and let it coat the fins. It will get rid of that nasty smell. Any other type of mold killer will work just as well. Frigi fresh just leaves a nice scent on the fins. Good luck!

 

[DavidSB]

Lysol spray in the intake works well. The Lysol smell only lasts a short time.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Thank you all,
I'm hearing there's no way of getting to the problem physically just with sprays. I try some. I’m just always worried the cure ends up worse than the disease. On my Suburban it will only get that smell if I’ve used the rear a/c, but then only once in a while. The SRT/Vert does it when ever it’s on recycle.

Thank again


2005 Silver SRT/10
2000 Steel Gray GTS (sold)