Funky Mouldy smell from A/C vents

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tazman @ Sep 19 2006, 02:48 PM) [snapback]321759[/snapback]</div>

I've noticed this with my '05, and found some leaves and stuff had collected around the air intakes in front of the windshield. I didn't take wiper off to clean the driver's side, as some instructions here describe, but pouring water with a litttle bleach in it seem to clear it up. You may need to clean the cabin air filter; remove the lower glove compartment and look for the two tabs.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tazman @ Sep 19 2006, 01:48 PM) [snapback]321759[/snapback]</div>

There have been a few threads where people have described the intakes (at the base of the windshield) getting filled with glop (that's the technical term), and have reported that cleaning out the channels has cured the problem. Try this thread:
cleaning intake

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(glenhead @ Sep 19 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]321781[/snapback]</div>

I found that stuff had gotten through to be collected on the cabin filter, i.e., bits of leaves and pine needles. If you don't have a 14mm socket handy, or the time to take that apart, a little bit of bleach and some water will work wonders on the outside, and for the inside, there are probably instructions here somewhere too on cleaning the cabin air filter. Or it may be in the owner's manual, I looked quickly, but couldn't find it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tazman @ Sep 19 2006, 02:48 PM) [snapback]321759[/snapback]</div>

This problem comes up a lot.

By far the most common cause of a moldy smell from the AC is mold/mildew growing on the AC condenser coils, where the condensate provides the continuous moisture to allow the mold to grow.

See this Prius Chat thread, for example:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=23292&hl=

That poster appeared to solve the problem with the "run the front defroster on heat for a while" method, which dries out the condenser coils by blowing hot air over them, or some such. That seems to work OK for me as well -- at least I haven't had to do anything more drastic than that, yet.

A good discussion of the issue can be found here (also referenced in my post to that prior thread).


http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/evap_stinks.htm

There are commercial remedies for this that involve some fairly drastic action. But running the front defrost on heat (set temp to max) occasionally seems to do it for me. If not, I've seen the suggestion of spraying lysol into the air intake as the AC is running (to get the mildewcide onto the AC coils), but I have not had to resort to that, nor will I guarantee that would be harmless to do.

Anyway, run your windshield defroster, at the highest temp setting, for a bit, to kill (or at least cripple) the mildew.

 

Moisture in the A/C system is very common in humid places like Florida.

Our Volvo has a really neat feature to help prevent the mold/mildew in the system. After you shut off the car, the car waits for a while (can't remember the exact time) and then it runs the fan for a few minutes to dry out the system. Very clever and very useful.