YACT: Weird smell from air conditioner, and question on Inspection

[ViRaLRuSh]

Ok, so when i turn on the air in my car, it brings on a like weird smell, not bad, nor good, but it's something odd. Perhaps i need the Free-on(sp?) or whatever replenished?

Also, my headlights on my 1994 intrepid are loose. the hinges are broken in a part on both lights and i was wondering if it would still pass inspection? This is for NY. Sorry, I'm a car noobie. Like my name says (There I said it for you!)

 

[helloedchen]

maybe your vents are building up mildew/bacteria/fungus.

depending on where you take your car, certain places will be +/- anal about the headlight. if it's the dealer, then yes, + anal.

 

[mandala]

Did you have the A/C on when you turned the car off? Quite a few cars tend to get a weird damp smell if you don't blow out the vents for a few seconds (with the A/C off) before you turn off the car.

I have no idea what NY requires for their inspections. Here in AZ, all they care about is the car's emissions.

 

[ViRaLRuSh]

No i dont do that with the vents.....can i get them cleaned at a local mechanic maybe?

 

[ViRaLRuSh]

any other ideas?

 

[Quixfire]

GideonX is close to the truth. You have mold/mildew built up on your evaporator. It usually smells like ammonia or urine for a few seconds to a few minutes. It caused by moisture in the evaporator core and no fresh air to dry it out. There are several fixes from minor to expensive. I recommend buying some mildew cleaner/killer and spraying into you fresh air inlet with the blower on high for 5-10 minutes. After this I recommend turning the A/C off and switching to outside for a few minutes before shutting the vehicle off to dry out the evaporator to prevent the mold/mildew from returning.

BTW, if this doesn?t fix it you will need to replace the evaporator core and clean in the heater case to fix the problem.