A/C Smells Bad When First Turned On When Warm

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Matt (3)

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Does anyone know either what causes this (mold?), or how to stop it from happening? Or is it just a fact of life?

I've noticed this, not just in my car, but in friends cars as well (saturns and otherwise). If it's a hot humid day and the car has been sitting a while, when you get in and turn on the air/A/C you will smell this nasty moldy? smell for a few minutes ... and then it will go away.

What is that? And how can you prevent that smell?

~ Matt
 
Matt said:
Does anyone know either what causes this (mold?), or how to stop it from happening? Or is it just a fact of life?

I've noticed this, not just in my car, but in friends cars as well (saturns and otherwise). If it's a hot humid day and the car has been sitting a while, when you get in and turn on the air/A/C you will smell this nasty moldy? smell for a few minutes ... and then it will go away.

What is that? And how can you prevent that smell?

~ Matt
Click to expand...

Do you run your A/C on recirculate most of the time? Do you notice water draining on the ground when the car is parked after the A/C was used? If you don't see any water, it's staying inside the housing and making a mold-inducing environment.

Here's a link to a post that Lane did in reply to this question back in 1998.

http://www.google.com/groups?q=air+...elm=01bd957f$13695fa0$39c196c6@joeuser&rnum=2

Feeling too lazy to type it all out and too busy with other stuff anyway.

I did have luck with using Lysol in my car. Not just any air freshener - Lysol. I left it sit overnight after I sprayed it into the intake in the cowling. If you can still get the stuff Lane refers to from Whitney it wouldn't cost much more to go with the stronger stuff.

Ken
 
This is accurate. If you shut off your AC before your shut off the car and let the vent blow outside air through the ducts it usually prevents this from happening.
 
Mold/mildew growth on the A/C evaporator coil. I think turning the A/C off for a minute or two and letting the fan blow probably helps because it dries out the moisture on the evaporator.

GM has a device that can be installed on vehicles where the owner complains of such problems, it basically turns on the fan for a few minutes after the car has been parked for some period to dry out the evaporator.
 
Sometimes a plugged drain hole will cause this.
Try to clear the hole by:

Close all the vents. Put it on recirculate. Put the fan on max.

This will build up some back pressure in the Air vents and hopefully blow the drain hole clear.

I also sprayed lisol down into the vents in great amounts.
 
Matt,

If the drain hole is not plugged contact your nearest Saturn dealer or Independent shop and ask them if they are familiar with a product called DWD2. This product is excellent. A small hole is drilled in the A/C evaporator case and then a cleaning agent induced into the system. It removes any debris, cigarette smoke, bacteria,, mold, etc. that stays on the evaporator fins and in the case,ultimately causing mold and the odor you are experiencing. A plug goes into the hole that is drilled to prevent leaks.

We became familiar with this product last year when a local media group did a news piece on mold and odors that caused people with alergies to get sick. We have done the service only a handful of times, but it works well. It also great to eliminate odors when a person purchases a used vehicle where the previous owner was a smoker.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
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