hey guys, ok this is the prob...when i have the air turned on (not air conditioning) but just the fan on, it smells horrible! However, when i turn the A/C on, the smell goes away. So its basically when i have the air on, it smells like crap..i cant stand it, ive searched around, but couldnt really find anything, how do i get rid of this smell? what should i do?

thanks

 

I have the same problem! I bought my car used a little more than a month ago... what is it caused by? It smells really bad, but when I push the a/c button the smell goes away.

 

I'm not exactly sure, but could it be mold?

http://forums.maxima.org/search.php?...der=descending

 

mine too... but here is what i did for it. i bought some lysol (sp?) and some Fabreeze (sp?)... turned on the car and lifted the hood. there are two sets of intake vents near the windshield, but still under the hood... one on the right... one on the left. turn your fan on high... and make sure it is not on recirculating... spray the lysol into those vents... 20 seconds maybe... then switch the settings for the vents... and repeat (floor, top, even defrost)... and i'm not sure if turing the a/c on does anything ... but i did. then repeat this process with the fabreeze. and the reason for both products... the lysol kills a lot of the mold and bacteria that might be in there... and since i don't like the smell of lysol.. the fabreeze makes your car smell good. or there is an alternative to this process if you like to spend $$... go to your local car wash/ detail... get them to do the "ozone" treatment... it works well... but atleast where i used to work it cost $25. hope this helps.

 

yeah i dropped by the dealer just now, and he also told me about this lysol technique, i will do it and see what happens
thanks for the help

 

Clean your air filter?

 

your air filter has nothing to do with that air. the air that goes through that mixes with the fuel and doesn't go near those air ducts.

i noticed when i took out random dash pieces to paint them that the tubing behind the vents were all dirty inside...so one suggestion besides the lysol (which should work just fine) would be to remove the vents in the middle of your dash and clean that out as best as possible. seems like an aweful lot of build up can happen in there. goodluck

 

the lysol technique really works

 

If you don't a lemony or fresh scent smell coming through your vents, just spray some no-odor (dunno if you can find this) disinfectant. It'll also do the trick.

Or, you could buy one of those kits at PepBoys or AutoZone for $4. It's made specifically to kill mold and deodorize your vents.

 

This "ozone" treatment? Could you be refering to Ozium air cleaner/freshener because you can buy that at a parts store maybe even walmart.

 

Here's a link to the product that will clean your evap. and stop the odor. Lysol or any other spray will only "Cover up" the odor and not fix the problem.

http://www.keep-it-kool.com/treat/treatment.html

 

no, actually the "ozone" treatment is a machine that is put into your cabin and filters the air while your a/c is running and the dirty air is exhausted out your window through a hose. it works well, but can take up to an hour. and since i had access to the thing i used it on a regular basis, so it might of worked better for me because of that.

 

Interesting.