I have an '03 Isuzu Rodeo and it is emitting a smell whenever I crank up. After about 20-40 seconds of the A/C running the smell goes away and everything is fine. I have had the car for a few years and it did not start doing this until I moved to south Florida. And now it has been doing this for a couple months. I have no clue what the smell is but it is similar to vinegar.


Is there a simple fix or is it going to cost me $texas.

8/23/2007 4:03:17 PM

mold

8/23/2007 4:05:05 PM

how the hell do I get rid of it

8/23/2007 4:07:44 PM

make sure the condensation is draining out properly. south florida is a very humid place and sometimes the drainholes get stopped up. you can probably find diagrams online that show how the system is laid out.

[Edited on August 23, 2007 at 4:09 PM. Reason : ...]

8/23/2007 4:08:39 PM

There is some product to clean the A/C vents, but I can't remember what it is called. I think someone posted about it on the THSCC forums a few years ago, but I don't have access anymore.

8/23/2007 5:13:03 PM

go to autozone and just ask them for a can of no odor or odor be gone. spay in cabin air vent, under hood, or in your dash or you can spary in your nose if you would like. idont care. but either way, and checking to see if your drain is clogged best solution

8/23/2007 6:01:55 PM

^ or kick his mom out of the car

8/30/2007 7:16:10 PM

shit, I'm actually having a similar problem and fucking mold is not what I wanted to hear. (I'm right here in Raleigh btw...strange considering it's been anything but humid around here lately...) Though in my case it goes away after only a few seconds, much less than 20-40.

Obviously I don't want to just mask the smell, if there is mold in my vents I want to kill it before it gets bad/unhealthy. So what is the Right Way to do it? (Other than making sure it's draining properly, haven't done that yet but I certainly will this weekend...)

[Edited on August 30, 2007 at 7:20 PM. Reason : d]

8/30/2007 7:20:21 PM

Quote :

"strange considering it's been anything but humid around here lately..."

uhhh

8/30/2007 7:35:33 PM

haha

8/30/2007 7:50:26 PM

Quote :

"So what is the Right Way to do it?"

take it apart (hvac) and clean it.

operate your a/c with fresh air on all the time. run fan only for a couple of mins before you get out of the car.

Ford offers a Purge Module for many of their cars to attack the problem. What it does is to cycle the blower motor to dry out the evaporator for a period of time after the engine is shut off. The module will work for most Ford cars, but it requires a special harness depending on the type of electrical system used in the air conditioning in the particular car. The part number for the module is F8ZX-19980-AA and you can inquire about it at your local Ford dealer.

General Motors has a similar system called Electronic Evaporator Dryer (EED). The EED turns the blower motor on and off in 10 second bursts where the Ford Purge Module runs it continuously. This will save the battery and GM says it pushes out two to three times more moisture from the evaporator. There is also a temperature sensor that will turn the blower motor off when the ambient temperature is low enough that the possibility of microorganism growth is at it's lowest. The EED is not based on what type of electrical system is used; it can be used on any General Motors product without any modifications.

otherwise go to carquest or maybe napa and get Frigi-Fresh" made by BG. frigi fresh is what i use and it works for months. of course my a/c doesn't smell yet.

lysol works too, but only for a few days.

[Edited on August 30, 2007 at 11:35 PM. Reason : e]

8/30/2007 11:28:17 PM

Quote :

"strange considering it's been anything but humid around here lately..."

ok, that was kind of a stupid statement.

I'll have to check on that purge module, otherwise. And see if maybe I can localize the problem a little before starting to take shit apart.

8/30/2007 11:45:27 PM

The mold is from the condensation formed because of the temperature changes occurring as your car warms up. What I usually end up doing is blasting heat 10-15 seconds before shutting my car off so I can get the temps of the cabin filter and the vents within range of the rest of the car.

The smell will go away eventually.

8/31/2007 12:20:18 AM

^yep, thats the right way to do it.

8/31/2007 1:24:47 AM