Weird AC Smell - NOT mildewy coil

Let me start off by saying this is NOT your standard musty smell from moisture in the evaporator coil. I know this because the smell does not happen by pressing the A/C button to turn off the compressor, and there is no smell when starting the car after it was turned off with the A/C running.

Now, what's happening is that approximately every 10-15 minutes while the A/C is running in the 2012 PiP there will be a strong smell in the car that smells almost exactly like salt. I mean exactly like if you go open a large container/bag of table salt and take a whiff. It goes away after a minute or two until the next round.

The A/C seems to be working alright, but that smell is hard to take and I'm worried that it might not be good to breathe. In typical fashion the dealer just blew me off saying that it's normal for the A/C to have a smell as the compressor cycles. Never mind that I've been driving this very car for a decade and it never did this until the last couple of weeks.

Any ideas appreciated.

 

I wonder how a mold or filter issue would only cause the smell while the A/C is running and not when it's manually turned off. Since I am not willing to spray anything in the vents, what would be the best way of ruling that out?

 

Mine only smells when the compressor has already been running for about 10-15 minutes. It lasts for about 1 minute and then goes away for another 10-15 minutes. Repeat ad infinitum. It doesn't smell musty or sour like mildew. It smells like salt, specifically.

 

I don't think it's related to mold or mildew since I cannot create the odor by manually cycling the compressor on and off.

I will not spray chemicals into the system, especially if those chemicals have an odor. That would be pretty much the same as dumping a porta potty in the back seat IMHO.

 

What would the difference be between manually cycling the compressor and the compressor cycling automatically? Because when I manually cycle the compressor I don't get the smell.