I don't know what it is. Whenever I turn on the a/c, I would get this weird odor, kind of like mildew smell, I'm not sure if it is that though. The thing is the smell will go away after awhile and return back to normal odorless a/c smell. What's up with this?

 

there's somethin on cheston's site bout gettin rid of a/c odors... dun remember where it is tho

 

Go to your local auto parts place and get something called auto vent deoderizer, but don't get the freshner(the smell will come back with that one). Turn on your max and blast the heater on high and on the recirculation mode. Allow 10 minutes for this. Shut off your car and locate the A/C intake vent behind the hood and toward the bottom of the windsheild and spray according to directions or little more(i used a little more). turn on the vents again and shut off and that should get rid of your prob.

 

Take a look at your filter, if it's dirty, that may be the problem.

 

4th gens don't have a pollen filter.


The AC smell is caused by mildew and mold. Follow the directions in the post above with the spray. That should get rid of the smell.

 

Is the AC vent the long plastic thing that looks like a grate, at the very bottom of the windshield, which can only be seen with the hood raised? I'm having a little trouble locating it. Thanks

 

I think it's just that grate just below the left windshield wiper. No need to lift the hood. If I remember correctly, that's where the air is drawn in to be cooled and blasted into thru vents as A/C.... I have that funk sometimes too, usually on really hot days or when the A/C hasn't been used in a while...

Someone here also mentioned Ozium, which is a spray that you spray directly into the vents or something like that? Does that work any better? Any one tried both methods?

 

Remove the resistor plate behind the glove box and spray the "A/C Cleaner" right into the system. That way it gets all over the coils. Do this while the system is running. Makes it nice and clean. Thats the best way to clean it out. You can even use simple green in there. I would rinse it with a spray of water if you use Simple Green, but that WILL clean it up real nice.

 

This convenient method is recommended in the Haynes repair manual. There's a good photo on page 3-14.

 

hmm well i'll be taking a route more extreme... cuz i also heard that air with aircon inside a car has 16 times more contaminants than outside air...
i'll be using this foam thing to continuously clean my filter and give my AC a lemon scent... when i get the details i'll let ya know... cuz yes that smell ****es me off annnd it scares me too... it smells hella funky and nasty