YACT : My air conditioning smells...

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Ika

Ika

Lifer
Mar 22, 2006
14,264
3
81
I've never seen (smelled?) this problem in our '96 corolla before, but whenever I turn on the air conditioning now, it smells like old, wet, 3-day-old rags. Is something wrong?
 
K

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
Originally posted by: Aflac
I've never seen (smelled?) this problem in our '96 corolla before, but whenever I turn on the air conditioning now, it smells like old, wet, 3-day-old rags. Is something wrong?
Click to expand...


Yes, there are wet rags in your engine.
 
MoPHo

MoPHo

Platinum Member
Dec 16, 2003
2,978
2
0
breathe it some more...if you dont pass out or develop a breathing issue there is nothing wrong.

if you do, you might wanna check for old, wet, 3-day-old rags.
 
CrackRabbit

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,642
62
91
Sounds like you have mildew forming in the condenser.
The drain may of plugged up. Check it out.
To get rid of the smell to your AC on with the fan turned on to max with the windows down. And spray Lysol into the air intake (usualy right at the bottom of the windshield).
I know there are some products that work similarly that you spray down the vents in your car.
 
G

GalvanizedYankee

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2003
6,986
0
0
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Sounds like you have mildew forming in the condenser.
The drain may of plugged up. Check it out.
To get rid of the smell to your AC on with the fan turned on to max with the windows down. And spray Lysol into the air intake (usualy right at the bottom of the windshield).
I know there are some products that work similarly that you spray down the vents in your car.
Click to expand...


We have a BINGO!


...Galvanized
 
S

SVT Cobra

Lifer
Mar 29, 2005
13,264
2
0
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Sounds like you have mildew forming in the condenser.
The drain may of plugged up. Check it out.
To get rid of the smell to your AC on with the fan turned on to max with the windows down. And spray Lysol into the air intake (usualy right at the bottom of the windshield).
I know there are some products that work similarly that you spray down the vents in your car.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
Rumpltzer

Rumpltzer

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2003
4,815
33
91
Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Sounds like you have mildew forming in the condenser.
The drain may of plugged up. Check it out.
To get rid of the smell to your AC on with the fan turned on to max with the windows down. And spray Lysol into the air intake (usualy right at the bottom of the windshield).
I know there are some products that work similarly that you spray down the vents in your car.
Click to expand...
We have a BINGO!


...Galvanized
Click to expand...
I came here to post something about a mouse.

Does your Corolla have intake vents at the base of the windshield (inside the car)? If so, try what's suggested above. If it has a filter, you might look into changing it (or having it changed). Mine (current generation Honda Accord) requires taking out the glove box or something like that.

I've also heard about Honda Accords having a drain pipe/line or something like that and the line might get plugged up creating a smell. The fix is to climb under the car and poke into the drain line to unclog it. You might check into the Edmunds Corolla forums to see if others have had your problem.

Good luck.
 
DivideBYZero

DivideBYZero

Lifer
May 18, 2001
24,117
2
0
Had my filters changed and an anti-bacterial flush done on my 3 series and now it smells like lemons. :D
 
Z

zixxer

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2001
7,326
0
0
Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Sounds like you have mildew forming in the condenser.
The drain may of plugged up. Check it out.
To get rid of the smell to your AC on with the fan turned on to max with the windows down. And spray Lysol into the air intake (usualy right at the bottom of the windshield).
I know there are some products that work similarly that you spray down the vents in your car.
Click to expand...
We have a BINGO!


...Galvanized
Click to expand...
I came here to post something about a mouse.

Does your Corolla have intake vents at the base of the windshield (inside the car)? If so, try what's suggested above. If it has a filter, you might look into changing it (or having it changed). Mine (current generation Honda Accord) requires taking out the glove box or something like that.

I've also heard about Honda Accords having a drain pipe/line or something like that and the line might get plugged up creating a smell. The fix is to climb under the car and poke into the drain line to unclog it. You might check into the Edmunds Corolla forums to see if others have had your problem.

Good luck.
Click to expand...



Arg, the misinformation is spewing from this one.





The intake for your a/c vents is on the OUTSIDE of the car, at the base of the windshield




I promise you can't "poke at" the drain pipe. It's most likely not easy to get at.




Spray lysol in your vents on the OUTSIDE of the car - base of windshield
 
Slacker

Slacker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
8,623
33
91
A correction to what someone posted earlier, the problem has nothing to do with the condensor, that is the unit mounted in front of the radiator.

The problem is in the evaporator "BOX" , inside that box is the evaporator, this is also where the condensate (that you should see dripping from under the car) is coming from, there are many kits to clean the evaporator/box, ranging from a very temporary solution of spraying strong air freshener in the intake vents at the base of the windsheild outside of the car, to kits that fill the evap case with foam that cleans and disinfects the unit and then liquifies to drain out of the case.

I have also heard that running the heater for a short time each day will kill the smell, havent tried that myself.
 
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