Update- I put the filter in just like the directions said. I bought the same exact filter from Home Depot also. The smell is still there. When I start my car up in the morning it's almost unbearable. I have to drive with the windows down for the first 20min I'm in my car! I'm starting to think that it's stinking up my clothes and stuff too! So gross. I'm taking it in to see what the dealership can do about it, if anything.

 

If it's really that bad then you may have a small dead animal stuck in there somewhere. It happens. A musty smell can be attributed to mold in the A/C system, but it sounds like your problem is a lot worse. My brother once had a dead mouse in his engine bay for weeks.

 

 

I work for a fire station and I asked our mechanic about the smell. He said that we had a similar problem in one of our Aid vehicles so he bought this Pure Air spray stuff and the smell went away and never came back! I sprayed it in the vents yesterday at work and when I got in after work I could still smell the nasty smell a lil bit. This morning tho, the smell was completely gone! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the spray took care of the problem.

I know there have been posts for other sprays but this spray is located in the US and it's only 6 bucks! The other posts I've seen have the spray for sale in Germany or something..

Heres the link to the spray:

http://www.autobarn.net/inpuair8oz.html

 

^^ yup it sounds like mildew/mold was growing a lot in the a/c box. (just to the left of the blower fan).

Lysol would do the same thing, anything to kill mold/mildew.

glad you got it fixed!

so any air restriction with your new cabin air filter? speed of air coming out of the vents any slower?

 

Nope, I haven't noticed any problem with the flow of air through my vents. I took the air filter out to show my friend what I had done like 2 days after I put it in and already it had black stuff on it. Yuck!

Thanks to everyone for their help in trying to fix the problem! I never knew this site exsisted until I started looking for fixes to the smell. I guess the smell was a blessing in disguise! lol

 

My filter restricts airflow very slightly, but not enough to bother me. For example, I might need to use the 4th setting to get the same amount of air I previously got from the 3rd setting. It's all good though. I still have airflow through the filter even when the fan is turned off, if I have the outside vent open. Also, I am using a 3-part filter, so that's the main reason. The air filter itself is pretty thin, but I layered it with a carbon filter and an odor filter.

 

The tip I got from a Honda dealership was that when you use your A/C for a period of time, just before you park and turn your car off, turn off the A/c, switch to outside vent (not recirculation) and let it run on vent air for a while with your windows rolled down until you feel room temperature air.

That way you'll help get rid of some of the remaining moisture. You can do this about 3 minutes before you reach your destination.