Snicklefritz
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Rotten Egg smell from Air Conditioner
My air conditioner smells like rotten eggs when I turn it on. only happens when the air is on. read an article saying to stray Lysol into intake vents. could not find any outside vents by engine cowling so, just sprayed where they usually are in other cars. now the cars smells like Lysol...
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StingerVetteMan
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Could be the Catalytic Converter
ChaneRZ
1000 Posts Club!
Most likely old cabin air filter.
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LordKOTL
Stinger Enthusiast
Taco Bell?
Seriously, taking off @Snicklefritz 's link, Do you run recirc a lot? If so I'd recommend switching it to outside air.
Seriously, taking off @Snicklefritz 's link, Do you run recirc a lot? If so I'd recommend switching it to outside air.
Volfy
1000 Posts Club!
Condensation could accumulate anywhere in your HVAC ductworks. If water is allowed to sit and pool, that moisture promotes bacteria growth, and they poop and fart some pretty smelly chemicals. The only way to get rid of it is to allow your HVAC ducts to air and dry out. Running your A/C produces a lot of condensation, mostly at the evaporator coils buried somewhere under your dash. All that water is both good and bad. It's good, because the constant flow of condensation drainage basically rinses your HVAC plenum where the evaporator coils are, which is typically the lowest point with a drain tube that drips out of your car. It's bad when that drain tube is obstructed or plugged up, so all that condensate has trouble draining out and starts to pool and grow bacteria culture.
First thing is to check your drain tube is flowing well. You should see water dripping out from the bottom of your car, when you are running the A/C. The more humid the area, the more that water flow is. If not, you'll need to clean the drain tube. Get with a shop if you don't know how.
Secondly, while it's okay to run recirculate occasionally, do switch to fresh air as much as possible. At the very least, do that some distance before you reach your destination and make sure you shut off your car with the HVAC on Fresh Air, not recirculate. This opens your HVAC plenum up to outside air, so any remaining moisture will have a chance to evaporate out. If I'm running A/C, which around here is probably 8-9 months our of a year, I usually shut it off before I reach my destination, so the ductworks temp has time to normalizes with the ambient temp, preventing condensation after I shut off the car, where the blower fan will not be running to blow it off.
If you already have a very strong smell, just spritzing cleaner or deodorizer into the vent can at best mask over the smell. Not much of it will reach all the way down the ductworks to reach to the plenum and evaporator coil.
First thing is to check your drain tube is flowing well. You should see water dripping out from the bottom of your car, when you are running the A/C. The more humid the area, the more that water flow is. If not, you'll need to clean the drain tube. Get with a shop if you don't know how.
Secondly, while it's okay to run recirculate occasionally, do switch to fresh air as much as possible. At the very least, do that some distance before you reach your destination and make sure you shut off your car with the HVAC on Fresh Air, not recirculate. This opens your HVAC plenum up to outside air, so any remaining moisture will have a chance to evaporate out. If I'm running A/C, which around here is probably 8-9 months our of a year, I usually shut it off before I reach my destination, so the ductworks temp has time to normalizes with the ambient temp, preventing condensation after I shut off the car, where the blower fan will not be running to blow it off.
If you already have a very strong smell, just spritzing cleaner or deodorizer into the vent can at best mask over the smell. Not much of it will reach all the way down the ductworks to reach to the plenum and evaporator coil.
LordKOTL
Stinger Enthusiast
My old G6 was so bad with the musty smell because of the screwed up HVAC system that it had a function in the BCM which the stealerships could turn on which blew the HVAC fan after the car was shut off if the AC was blowing for a long time before the car was shut off and no fresh air was introduced into the system. But your suggestion stood as the smart thing to do: turn the AC off and let some fresh air clear out the moisture about 5 minutes before you reach your destination.
Aside from that a fix I did with that car (since the outside air induction was easy to spot next to the windshield) was to turn the HVAC system on full--AC included, and spray some lysol into the air induction. Cleared it out really good.
So far my stinger has not had that big of an issue with musty smells...unless I'd had Taco bell, but where else can you get gas for $1.99?
Volfy
1000 Posts Club!
Yes, that's a good strategy. Around here, we never have smell problems in the hot & humid TX Summers. The torrent of water constantly rinses the plenum nice and clean. Ironically, it's in the cooler "in-between" months that we sometimes have odor issues.
Lol... Luckily, we seemed to have evolved as a species to possess a tolerance for self-induced chemistry.unless I'd had Taco bell, but where else can you get gas for $1.99?
