my car has about 9000 miles on it and the ac is starting to smell after i turn it off and just blow wind out. i'm wondering if it has anything to do with my home-made cabin filter. does anybody else's AC smell yet? how do i get rid of it? i read somewhere that i should spray lysol into the recirculation vent...

 

First of all... what does it smell like? A$$???

 

If I have just hte fans on and no a/c, my air doesn't smell bad persay, but smells stale.

 

smell like mildew.

 

i would take your cabin air filter that you made out of the car, and take it to the dealer.. there is a lysol type thing that the dealer sprays on the condenser mesh to get rid of mildew.. you are smelling mildew.. best thing one can do is to keep the fresh air open instead of re-circulate, especially once you park the car.. otherwise the moisture cannot escape and it turns into mildew..

 

hm, when i drive with the AC on, i have it on recirc. then once i turn off the ac, i have it on fresh air, thats when the mildew smell comes out and it goes away after a few minutes. does mildew grow on the filter too? is that why i need it cleaned?

 

no the mildew isn't growing on the air filter you put in.. but that filter did prevent the moisture from escaping.. so now the smell is coming from the evaporator coils inside the a/c unit behind your glovebox.. the dealer can spray some stuff in there to kill the mildew..

 

sweet, thanks. i'll go have them do that this weekend when i use up my last free oil change.

 

Mine smells like ____ after being turn off and then when it's used again, it stinks! I had the same problem in my Toyota truck.

 

cool glad i could help.. if ya can find out if they actually use lysol or if it's something else