How to Get Rid of the Musty Smell From Your Car’s Air Conditioner | Consumer Reports
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- For more on how to keep that A/C smelling fresh go to: bit.ly/3LViJcY
Here's what to do when the air coming out of your vents smells like a sweaty sock 😩.
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No intro no extra words straight to point, this dudes a legend👑
Turn off the AC recirc button.
Roll down the windows
Remove the cabin air filter
Run the ac at low fan for at least two minutes while spraying in the disinfectant.
Stop spraying and run on high fan to clear out the disinfectant.
Replace the air filter
Where do we spray the disinfectant?
Into the blower motor @@DummyReyes
@@DummyReyes Where the video said
For a more thorough job, remove the cabin air filter and then get a kit called a "evaporator & heating foam cleaner", which is like the can he had in the video, except it has a plastic tube you connect and it sprays expanding foam. But the foam inside the empty box with the air filter, right on top of the metal coils inside. Use the entire can all at once. Run the AC and the car will start puking dirty liquid out the bottom. Run it until the liquid stops flowing out, then wait overnight and put the air filters back in. It will smell weirdly clean like a dentist's office for a couple days, and then back to a neutral smell.
Thank you for posting this. Found a lot of dirt in the ac cabin vent. I will try it
do you do both cabin air filters if your car has two?
@@s28177any update on your try
Hey do you know if their is a good video of RUclips online
What if your car doesn’t have a cabin filter? 2004 dodge ram
The BEST way to keep your car AC from smelling moldy, mildewy, or musty is EVERY time you run your AC, before you shut off your engine, turn off the AC, make sure your cabin air is set to fresh instead of recirculate, and run the fan on high for a couple of minutes. This dries out the condensation in your car's air vents, which can get heavy if you have your cabin air set on recirculate instead of fresh when running your AC. We've got a 21-year-old Toyota Tacoma and have always done this when we run our AC and we have never had a musty smell coming out of our vents. I saw this tip on a TV show decades ago and IT WORKS!
Take the filter out before you spray the de-odorizer, then replace the filter
Thanks
The smell only appears when the AC is off
Absolutely right... same observation
Right Same observation....
Floor mat is wet may be due to these
Same issue here. It's also bad on startup but as soon as you turn on the AC it's gone.
OMG!! It works!! I usually get a new cabin filter when my car starts smelling. This year was different. It happened, and I got the filter replaced in March. It didn't help, so I got another one in June. It didn’t help, so Volvo flushed the a/c evaporator or something. It didn’t work, and they just flushed it twice last week and upgraded the cabin filter brand. I have purchased more air freshers and a car air purifier. It smells better, but there is still a faint musty scent. I just watched this video, sprayed Lysol, and got back in the car. I can smell the Lysol. Lifesaver!!! #SmallHacks Thank you. I spent between $1200 and $1500 in the last seven months. All I needed was this video.❤
I have an irrational fear that if I spray that stuff while the engine is running, my car will burst into flames cause all the spray stuff says highly flammable. 😅 Can you tell me that it, in fact, won’t set my car on fire.
@@hktoo148It won't set your car on fire. 😁
@@hktoo148 highly flammable still requires a spark. you car wouldn't randomly produce a spark
But now you’re smelling a bunch of bad chemicals
I’ve used this technique on a couple of my vehicles. It worked, but it was always very temporary. I forget, did he mention you are supposed to leave the recirculation button off when the vehicle is parked so the system can breathe and dry out?
Any permanent fix?
People need to stop running it on recirculate all the time
That's always the first line of the advice; "Turn off recirculate."
I didn't recirculate in the first place and now the rest of the advice is suspect, because it's built on a bad assumption.
wish I saw this a few months back spent over $100 for a Ford dealership to change my cabin filter n still had a smell took it back they said mold on the ac $2700 job 😮
Mercedes were prone to stinky AC. My Honda Accord, Ram 1500 truck, Infiniti QX60, Toyota 4Runner never had this issue, but my old GLE350 had a stinky AC within 30k miles.
Both of our Toyotas get a nasty, musty smell. It's a known issue. If you have a Toyota, turn off recirculate often to fix the smell. I'm not sure if they've fixed the issue since the 2019 models as our cars are older than this.
Nope, I have a 2019 Camry and this is my current situation 😅
It's all cars, really
Nope.. I have 2022 corolla with same problem
any air conditioner will develop this, it's accumulated moisture from evaporature breeds mold.
Unfortunately they’ve done nothing, 22 Tacoma with the same issue.
This dude straight up saved me $160 bucks that Toyota was trying to charge me
Ahh yes, I can still smell my musty Volkswagens
sucks that you have to keep doing this process all summer
Mercedes were prone to stinky AC. My Honda Accord, Ram 1500 truck, Infiniti QX60, Toyota 4Runner never had this issue, but my old GLE350 had a stinky AC within 30k miles
I was advised to do the AC recharge but the only thing weird happened so far is the odor when I turn on the ac first time after a few seconds it will go away.
Thanks, love this type of lifehack info.
Lysol will kill your blower motor, because once the alcohol evaporates it "gunks up"
You'll get away with maybe 3 cleanings, then a blower motor replacement awaits.
Don't ask me how do I know.
So what’s a good alternative?
Did anybody find another solution then?
Also, when spraying the Lysol from outside make sure the recirculate button is off. This will pull fresh air in and not cabin air. When you have recirculate on you’re pulling cabin air instead of outside air. Do not use the recirculate button for a day after doing this.
Thank you! I’m sitting in my car during my break right now and it’s been driving me nuts. Definitely will give this a shot when I get home.
Thank you. This worked perfectly!
Glad it helped!
Are you supposed to have the AC on while you have the fan on or just the fan
Ac on atleast low and turn off recirculating air button
Also before you turn off the car when running high ac in summer turn off ac button and recirculating for 2 mins or so will also help with the smell not ever happening if new or taking longer atleast
I usually turn off ♻️ 5 mins or so before I’m home or whatever the case at the very min. Then the ac button for about a min cause typically it’s the constant ♻️ that keeps the moisture trapped causing the mold
Can you help me I have vw touran 2017 yesterday I switched on my car ac and then I saw water coming out of air vents would you know what could be the problem or reason let me know thanks
I have had a musty smell since I had body work done on my car and two detailing and three ozonations haven't got rid of it (although it was gone for a short time after each treatment). The musty smell returns when the car is just sitting around, not when I run the a/c at all, is it possible that these reasons could still be the cause, despite not running the a/c?
May have a water leak from a door seal,sunroof etc…
My SUV just started having a vinegar like smell when I turn on my vents. I changed the filter like you said with a HEPA filter and I bought the special AC cleaning spray but it still smells like vinegar. What should I do?
Thank you. I used disinfectant in the plenums and changed the filter!
I used the lysol trick years ago when i saw a scotty kilmer video that suggested it. It got rid of the smell, and i replaced the cabin fikter with a new one.
I will try rhis On a 98 Ford explorer since I went to the autoparts and turns out this car does not have a replaceable cabin ari filter
So I used a hole can of lysol and let say it went from 100 nasty moldy musty humid smell to a 45 percent stink I wonder if I keep applying it will it make it better ? Anyways good luck to all with ur projects love your spouses take care .. ✌🏽
I also get a "funny" smell from my AC when I turn it on, but only like for a couple of seconds and then it's gone. It started happening when I replaced my cabin filter, so that's a bit odd. I tried AC cleaner, one that you press the cap and leave it inside the car with AC on, but it did not help.
Its not an AC cleaner, its just a deodorizer, doesn't do much in way of getting rid of mold. Buy a water mister (like a hair mister) put some sort of mold cleaner (like Concrobium) and spray into the air intake like in the video with the cabin filter removed. It will coat everything inside the system with a mold killing protectant, worked for me.
I am having the same problem. Please let me know if you find the solution.
My v.w doesn't have vents below the windshield under the hood. Is there another place I can spray lysol? Behind cabin filter?
*All* cars have an air intake at the bottom of the windshield. It's a high-pressure zone that helps shove air into your cabin vent as you go down the road. Most cars, you don't have to open the hood to find it.
I noticed that European cars are prone to this issue
Can someone explain to me after I did the steps, and my ac started making strange sounds khonkg?
I put tape around my nose with cologne and it worked
Wouldn’t the moldy water need to be drained off for the smell to stay away? Aren’t we just covering up the problem? It has worked for me I’m just wondering.
There's probably a drain hole at a low point in the system, and in some cars it clogs. It clogs faster if you live someplace dirty (like my house, 1/4 mile downwind of a big gravel parking lot). In my case, I probably need a solvent to run down to the bottom of my vent. I think I need the automotive version of a foaming drain cleaner.
I was still nervous to do this even with this and a couple other videos.
Not all.vehicles have cabin filters
But they all have a low point in their ventilation system, where moisture sits, so ALL the rest of the video is valid.
Thanks got a year old Toyota, just what i needed to know
I did this and it seems to have worked decently well. I did it in the evening before closing up my car for the day. The next day I had a long journey and several hours into it my steering wheel starting screeching, which seems to possibly be a power steering issue. Is it possible that this DIY odor fix has anything to do with it?
no chance
I have a question about spraying lysol or any other quemical on spray, it doesn't corrode the evaporator coil causing a freon leak on your AC?
I have owned Honda/Acura vehicles for last 25 years and never had this issue. However, I had to deal with this issue on my 2010 Corvette. I would have to turn up the heat and turn off recirculation during the last 5-10 minutes of a long drive in order to dry out the a/c ductwork. Doing this kept that musty smell from permeating the cabin on future trips.
doesn't turning on the heat move the outside air through heat ductwork? you need to dry the AC cooling ductwork (where accumulated moisture is breeding mold), so it's better to turn off recirc and turn on wind on full blast with outside air (not heated not cooled, ambient air).
I just got a 2000 chevy blazer great car but its unbearable being inside ..had 2 people say it smells like mold, its very nasty and sticks to you , the guy i bought it from disconnected AC pump from serpentine belt i guess it seized up, and he put a shorter belt on ....so this horrid stench is all because of non functioning AC pump? And yes with car off for days ...open the door and it ya hard ...
Yes, the AC is disabled, and it would probably go a long way toward drying out the ducts if the AC worked.
You could use an ozone machine .
I 120 Hyundai is smelling but I always clean it at car wash and also used a perfume but the smell remains
The perfume didn't kill the mold then, did it?
Thank you so much, it worked instantly. It only took 2 minutes
My 2022 Toyota 4 runner with 8000 miles is giving me that sweat smell all of a sudden. Any permanent solution?
Dude, 2021 here and I’m dealing with the same problem 😂
My 2024 Corolla doesn't even have 4k miles yet and already giving a bad smell. Gonna have to try the tips on the vid
what if it's the fan causing the smell not AC
They use the same duct system...
So I tried this method. Sprayed the plenum, changed the filter, turn on the air w no AC before turning on car but I am still getting the smell. What would be my next step here, driving me crazy.
have you find any solution pls ? I started having same problem and it is driving me crazy
Try vinegar it a an actually kills mold. I’m trying that first.
1000th 👍
His last tip, is exactly what I do. I never get that smell
I do mold remediation, and dead mold is just as toxic as alive mold. the spores themselves need to be removed from the ducts. mold spores are smaller than bacteria. Basically treating anything with mold by just spraying stuff on it is just like cleaning dirt off your carpet by just spraying it
Thank you
Probably a Ford if it smells musty.
LOL I had that problem with my 78 Ford back in the day.
It looks like the filter removed had been chewed by some rodents.
Can you add an essential oil to the new air filter when replacing it to add a fresh scent 💜
Use a carbon infused cabin air filter.
why?
How about using fabreze spray?
Sometimes it’s a water leaking over the wires, which causes this smell.
What wires? AC wires?
10th, 22 September 2022
If you can spray it up the overflow pipe aswell
Don’t
What other kind of disinfectant, except Lysol?
Dettol
I've had good luck with the enzyme cleaners marketed for breaking down pet urine odors. They also work on AC evaporator crud and tobacco smoke residue, and are safer for you to breathe than Lysol/Dettol etc.
My VW passat doesn't have those vents you showed, where would I spray it in that case?
I had a 2000 VW Passat a few years ago (and replaced it with a 1999 Audi A6). What I did to access my AC fresh air intake was remove the cover over the back of the engine compartment, pull the fresh air filter, and spray in there. I don't know what later Passats are like, so find a manual or RUclips for changing your fresh air filter and that will show you where to spray.
THERE ARE SPECIAL LAVA ROCKS STONES THAT ABSORBS ALL THE BAD STUFF.! SOLD AT MANY HOME IMPROVEMENT STORES.
Where would you place that in a car to help with the air system?
Yes, I would like to know if you placed them anywhere close to the ac vent?
What a great tip for the beginning of fall.....
😅 To be fair there is another hemisphere.
@@gpaull2 That is true, but the majority of the population resides in the Northern Hemisphere.
You mean a great tip for people who have been using their air conditioning for months on end and are now experiencing issues? Your two brain cells must not get along
It comings back the same thing it not work