Foul Smell in Cabin From Vents / AC

[sgparnes]

The dealer gave me 2 almost empty cans of "Frigi Fresh" anti bacterial spray for AC systems. Not really enough to make any difference, so I bought a small can of Ozium and sprayed into the AC intake inside the car near floorboard in front. A little better.

 

[VinceL]

Our smell keeps getting worse. We were hoping that moving to a less humid climate might have a positive influence on the smell, and unfortunately it has not. The odor is pretty pungent at this point.

After a 1 to 2 minute blast of odor from our vents, it fades. If the car sits more than an hour, you are greeted with a renewed blast of stank from the vents. The longer the car sits, the more intense and longer lasting the wretched smell is.

Maybe Ford will tell us this is normal wear and tear... Oh wait, we would have to actually hear from Ford corporate for that to happen... silly me.

We'll take it in the next oil change and let them disinfect it again. If what they do actually lasted longer than a few days, we probably wouldn't mind them having to do it every time it started stinking, but as it stands, we can't be without our car a day or two every week.

 

[sidneyhop]

HOW TO FIX:

One very common cause of this issue is running your AC all the way up until you turn off your Ex for an extended period of time, especially in humid environments. Its essentially condensation accumulating in the ducts from the frigid ac air.

Run the VENT a few minutes before shutting your Ex off to flush out the cold air and replace it with ambient air. This will greatly reduce the condensation and soon the mildew smell will disappear.

Worked for me and Im in Florida

 

[VinceL]

HOW TO FIX:

One very common cause of this issue is running your AC all the way up until you turn off your Ex for an extended period of time, especially in humid environments. Its essentially condensation accumulating in the ducts from the frigid ac air.

Run the VENT a few minutes before shutting your Ex off to flush out the cold air and replace it with ambient air. This will greatly reduce the condensation and soon the mildew smell will disappear.

Worked for me and Im in Florida

Will give it a try, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[peterk9]

HOW TO FIX:

One very common cause of this issue is running your AC all the way up until you turn off your Ex for an extended period of time, especially in humid environments. Its essentially condensation accumulating in the ducts from the frigid ac air.

Run the VENT a few minutes before shutting your Ex off to flush out the cold air and replace it with ambient air. This will greatly reduce the condensation and soon the mildew smell will disappear.

Worked for me and Im in Florida

Another curious issue that leaves me wondering why some have it and others don't. I have my Climate set on Auto and usually the A/C is running when I'm driving. When I get home I just park in the garage and shut the ignition off. It is also not unusual for the vehicle to sit there for 3 - 5 days, yet I've never experienced this smell issue.

Peter

 

[spr]

no clue - but I have heard of stuff like this that is supposed to help neutralize this sort of thing... heard guys on 'CarTalk' talk about these sprays before...

http://www.wellworthproducts.com/tech/3011t.pdf

I have absolutely no experience with any of them - so I would look into it closely before using any.

This is one I saw mentioned in a CarTalk thread: ('Wurth')
http://www.autogeek.net/wuachesytr6o.html

and this one: 'Frigi-Fresh' definitely rings rings a bell... I have heard them talk about this on their radio show.
http://www.bgprod.com/products/climatecontrol.html

 

[spr]

Another curious issue that leaves me wondering why some have it and others don't. I have my Climate set on Auto and usually the A/C is running when I'm driving. When I get home I just park in the garage and shut the ignition off. It is also not unusual for the vehicle to sit there for 3 - 5 days, yet I've never experienced this smell issue.

Peter

...says the guy from canada...

My guess is that you are not taxing the system from a moisture standpoint.



I have always run the air without A/C for a couple minutes when convenient before I get home - but the 'auto' setting in the new explorer I can tell is quickly breaking me of that habit. I'll have to remember to do this.

 

[zen2u]

I wanted to add this for consideration since it was something I've never seen before with a car. The black pastic (what I've always called the "gutter") that runs the length of the outer side of windshield below the wiper blades does not have any vent holes, slots, slits what have you. As a result, when the Explorer sits in the heat or sun, then you start it and turn on the AC or air vent, the initial minute(s) you get all that stale, hot air from the engine cavity.

My last car and many others, no circulation enters the cabin in this senario until the car has purged the hot engine air in a different way, i.e., not in your face. If anyone gets a blast of warm, hot air (maybe stale order?) this may be the culprit. It's a nice way to recycle/use that hot air if you are in a cold cold climate I guess. Otherwise, it is like drinking a glass of warm water on a hot day. Probably a good engineering reason for this but this is the byproduct. Still love my Sport despite this!!!!!

 

[VinceL]

For those of you that "never had the smell", you must not have "ever used your AC"!!!! Or you live in the desert...

LOL, well I can speak to my own experience that my almost 6 year old Legacy has never had this problem, having survived many VERY humid Houston summers. My wife and I have the same usage patterns and her A/C stinks to high heaven.

 

[1995E]

Does replacing the cabin air filter help at all with the smell? I have the smell after not driving the car for a while. After having the A/C run a bit, it stopped smelling like mold. Not a big nuisance but I really hope it's not actual mold blowing into my face.

 

[VinceL]

1995E, it has not helped from what I have read here and other forums.

 

[VinceL]

As suggested by others, turning off the A/C button but letting the fan run for a minute or two at high speed using outside air seems to have fixed the problem for us. We have only had to do it two times before the smell went away. The difference is amazing. Honestly, I don't feel as owners we have to subject ourselves to hot air as we pull into the garage or parking spot, but it appears it is a functional work around to the problem.

 

[VinceL]

Well, it would seem that doing the fresh air for a minute or two trick worked like a charm. Strangely, we only had to do it once or twice to notice that the smell had gone away. It would be nice to be able to enjoy conditioned air up until the very end, but not having the smell is worth it.

 

[eglirlw24]

Stinky AC AND Water in the floorboard

I have an 11 Exp XLT w/leather. Yesterday I went to get my windshield sunshade out from under my driver's seat and it was SOAKED! Water was under the driver's side floor mat and under my seat in a round puddle. I have it at the dealership now as it is still under warranty. I originally thought AC issue because I also have the stinky "musty" smell when I first turn on my AC.

Anyone else had the water problem in conjunction with the AC smell? Suggestions?

 

[michael_jp]

Every time I start to get that mildew smell I ran the heater full blast for 5 to 10 minutes, then let the car sit the whole night. Repeat this for a couple of days in my garage, and noticed big improvement in getting rid of the bad smell.
This might be attributed to the accumulation of mold/condensation in the AC line, and running high temp air in the line then, letting it sit for couple of hours destroy those molds.

 

[FordService]

I have an 11 Exp XLT w/leather. Yesterday I went to get my windshield sunshade out from under my driver's seat and it was SOAKED! Water was under the driver's side floor mat and under my seat in a round puddle. I have it at the dealership now as it is still under warranty. I originally thought AC issue because I also have the stinky "musty" smell when I first turn on my AC...

Let me know what you hear from your dealership, eglirlw24. If you need my assistance, send your info to me in a PM and I'll check out some options. Be sure to include your VIN, dealer, mileage, daytime phone number, and full name.

Crystal

 

[nick_c]

Hello All.

I had this smell as well. It last about 10 seconds at start up and it smells absolutely AWFUL. But then it goes away.

I called my dealer and he new what it was right away.

It is a warranty repair under TSB 12-12-4. It has something to do with the left rear air extractor and tailgate drain.

Hopefully this is the fix and it doesn't comeback.

++++

2013 Explorer Limited

 

[FordServiceCA]

Hello All.

I had this smell as well. It last about 10 seconds at start up and it smells absolutely AWFUL. But then it goes away.

I called my dealer and he new what it was right away.

It is a warranty repair under TSB 12-12-4. It has something to do with the left rear air extractor and tailgate drain.

Hopefully this is the fix and it doesn't comeback.

++++

2013 Explorer Limited

Hi nick_c,

Did you get your dealer to perform the repairs already? Please PM me your VIN, odometer reading, full name, best daytime phone number, and dealer. I'll check into some options.

Bianca

 

[nick_c]

FordServiceCA,

I guess I did not mention it, but yes, the day I made the post I had just finished getting the repair done under the TSB I posted at my dealer.

As you know, its been a little cooler up here lately so I don't know with certainty that the repair worked, however I am optimistic.

If the problem persists I will send you the information requested.

Thanks,

 

[VinceL]

Unfortunately I spoke too soon. The smell is back, and at times overpowering. As an experiment, I turned the heater to full blast and the smell that came out of the vents was nauseating. We have been doing the turning the A/C off with the blower on trick and I suppose it has helped, as the smell isn't as frequent as before. Strangely, the intensity of the smell never seems to change, but we get a few times where it doesn't smell at all. Weird...