Getting rid of smelly AC

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Sometimes when I use the AC in my DTS, I smell a musty odor. Kind of like wet socks. The drain does work and before I stop, I turn off the AC and have the blower blow off any moisture. It still smells however when the AC is turned off.

I know people recommend spraying Lysol in the cowl, But I don't want my car AC to smell like Lysol after. Plus I think it leaves a residue.

I read somewhere that spraying rubbing alcohol in the cowl might help stop the odors. In the DTS, if I remove the cabin air filter, I can actually see the blower motor. So I can spray it and the mist should reach the evaporator.

What would be the best solution to kill the mildew without leaving a cleaner scent in my car?
 
Originally Posted by A_User55555
Sometimes when I use the AC in my DTS, I smell a musty odor. Kind of like wet socks. The drain does work and before I stop, I turn off the AC and have the blower blow off any moisture. It still smells however when the AC is turned off.

I know people recommend spraying Lysol in the cowl, But I don't want my car AC to smell like Lysol after. Plus I think it leaves a residue.

I read somewhere that spraying rubbing alcohol in the cowl might help stop the odors. In the DTS, if I remove the cabin air filter, I can actually see the blower motor. So I can spray it and the mist should reach the evaporator.

What would be the best solution to kill the mildew without leaving a cleaner scent in my car?


I've used lysol on my car and it DID kill all that smell. the lysol smells doesn't stick/stay around long, maybe 2 days at the most. It does go away and it was extremely effective and MUCH cheaper than letting the dealer foam up the evaporator case/box! The lysol never left a residue either, I had to replace a blower fan motor, went in and wiped around to see and nothing in there. I'd vote for regular lysol, not that new stuff with the fragrance that stuff stays around even longer!!
 
All you have to do is turn off the A/C and turn on the fan full blast the last two blocks before pulling into your driveway. That will dry out the ducts and prevent the formation of mold that causes the smell.
 
Originally Posted by researcher
Originally Posted by A_User55555
Sometimes when I use the AC in my DTS, I smell a musty odor. Kind of like wet socks. The drain does work and before I stop, I turn off the AC and have the blower blow off any moisture. It still smells however when the AC is turned off.

I know people recommend spraying Lysol in the cowl, But I don't want my car AC to smell like Lysol after. Plus I think it leaves a residue.

I read somewhere that spraying rubbing alcohol in the cowl might help stop the odors. In the DTS, if I remove the cabin air filter, I can actually see the blower motor. So I can spray it and the mist should reach the evaporator.

What would be the best solution to kill the mildew without leaving a cleaner scent in my car?


I've used lysol on my car and it DID kill all that smell. the lysol smells doesn't stick/stay around long, maybe 2 days at the most. It does go away and it was extremely effective and MUCH cheaper than letting the dealer foam up the evaporator case/box! The lysol never left a residue either, I had to replace a blower fan motor, went in and wiped around to see and nothing in there. I'd vote for regular lysol, not that new stuff with the fragrance that stuff stays around even longer!!



+1 on the Lysol. It works and as he said the smell doesn't linger around.
 
I think HVAC supply houses sell a product for this . Never used it or Lysol . We live in a semi-arid climate and things usually dry pretty quickly .
 
Originally Posted by das_peikko
All you have to do is turn off the A/C and turn on the fan full blast the last two blocks before pulling into your driveway. That will dry out the ducts and prevent the formation of mold that causes the smell.


Unfortunately far from it. In a hot and humid condition, it will just cause a bunch of condensation and an uncomfortable level of heat and humidity in the cabin.

I've tried that and haven't had much success. Some cars do this and some don't. IME, only my new 135 does this routinely. My accord will if I shut off ac before turning off, not if I just leave AC on always.

My Saab used to do this occasionally. No other vehicles do, except an only corolla my parents used to have.
 
It would be a good idea to spray a product of your choice into the cowl intake at cabin filter change. It works better with the filter removed.


I do turn off the AC for the last 5 minutes of the drive home, it helps.
 
Originally Posted by A_User55555
I know people recommend spraying Lysol in the cowl, But I don't want my car AC to smell like Lysol after. Plus I think it leaves a residue.

Get unscented Lysol or just deal with the scent for at most a day or two.
 
I never turn off my A/C before shutting the vehicle off and have zero musty smell. I live in jungle humid Miami Beach. Even when I am in NYC [where I am right now] I leave the climate control system on all the time. I change out the cabin filter every 25K miles.

Even in the days before Cabin Filters I never had a musty smell and the a/c system was always left in the on position.

It always baffled why some people always had to turn the system off and then turn it back on again. In a humid climate your windows will fog up when the vehicle is restarted of you turn the system off. When the system is left on all the time the windows will not fog up. This is for those who live in a jungle humid climate like I do.
 
My VW did this, and I used Lysol, but with some sort scent, like fabric or whatever. It'd work for a while, or at least mask it.

I've gotten into the habit of turning off a/c a mile or two from home, to try to reduce it, but I swear some cars are just prone to it.
 
I have used Lubegard 96030 Kool-It Evaporator cleaner. Available from Amazon. You squirt it up the drain and it foams into the air conditioner. I just did mine yesterday. Easy to use and a pleasant minty odor.
 
Originally Posted by researcher
I've used lysol on my car and it DID kill all that smell. the lysol smells doesn't stick/stay around long, maybe 2 days at the most. It does go away and it was extremely effective and MUCH cheaper than letting the dealer foam up the evaporator case/box! The lysol never left a residue either,



Yep, same here. The hardest part was getting the right spray angle
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
I have used Lubegard 96030 Kool-It Evaporator cleaner. Available from Amazon. You squirt it up the drain and it foams into the air conditioner. I just did mine yesterday. Easy to use and a pleasant minty odor.



+1 This. Other methods are just a temporary band aid.
 
I've had the musty smell issue in a few previous vehicles and generally I got around it by running the fan only for a couple minutes before shutting the car off. This will mostly evaporate any residual condensation or moisture so it doesn't sit there in the system getting funky.
 
I've experienced that with some vehicle HVAC systems in some climates. I know way back around 1989-1990 we used the aerosol sprays like mentioned above on which ever vehicles were effected in the fleet for the rental car place I worked at, at the time.

I can only imagine what all the spraying of liquids into the cowling does to the evap core. You'd think it's got to gunk it all up over time. There's no way to rinse it with clean water w/out removing it.
 
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