Wet Towel (mildew) Smell Coming Out Of Air Conditioner
So ever since I got my oil change for 12000 miles or around there ive been getting this weird mildew wet towel smell coming out of my air conditioner. I took it back to the dealer and they told me it is normal at 13-14,000 miles and they have a service for that (for about 100 bucks). Anyone know if this is in fact normal???? What do you guys recommend I do? I can live with it but its annoying.
Answer:
Cold and damp environments like air conditioning ducts are ideal for nasty-smelling organisms. It helps if you run the heat after the cold, to dry out the condensation and prevent the formation of moulds and mildew. Once they're in there, disinfectants or bleach will kill them off, but the areas are hard to get at. You could try a can of Lysol sprayed into the intake ducts with the system on full blast for awhile, and it wouldn't hurt to check the cabin air filter. The dealer's $100 service doesn't sound like it includes disassembly of the affected components, but you could ask. It's just condensate from the AC, that sits and doesn't evaporate. Run the heater and it should evaporate no problem. I would get the smell intermittantly when I lived in Los Angeles. It usually went away after about 15 minutes of the heater running.