AC Vent Air Quality Bad

[Aurum]

Air quality problem.

Whenever I turn off AC and just have fan air blowing (reticulated air and non reticulated) the smell is always mildew-y.

When AC mode is engage the smell goes away. My car only has 5k miles on it and I take really good care maintenance and cleaning-wise.

Does anyone have any useful tips or tricks to get the vent air smelling fresh again?

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[Jon|3.7]

i recently began having this issue but at 25k miles

i changed the cabin air filter in the glove box and the smell went down but not completely
i got my oil changed yesterday and the guy mentioned to get my floor carpeting on the car deep cleaned because the a/c sucks in the moisture or something like that (rains a lot here so over time it would get wet and i never cleaned them so it does make sense) i will try that

another idea i was mentioned was lysol with the a/c on full blast ( im guessing so it can get inside and get rid of the mildew build up)


but it seems you keep it clean so i dont know at this point, i have read on here about someone who was going to replace their cabin air filter and it did not have one


if not they mentioned an evap core flush and then they would cherry bomb it for me

 

[jasonstang]

The idea is not turn AC off before you park the car. Just leave the AC on and turn the car off. I know it's against public opinion but the problem for fungus to grow is water and by turning AC off and run air only, you are blowing warm air through a very cold system creating tons of condensation which allows bacteria to thrive. By turning off the system with AC running allows the system to warm up slowly and evenly eliminating condensation.
I would actually turn reciculation on about 5 minutes before turning car off making sure the system is cold and dry.
I used to have this issue because of running air after turning AC off. Ever since I don't anymore, I don't smell anything.
Try that for a couple of times see if the smell goes away. If not, you might need to buy these AC cleaning kit that shoots bacteria killing foam into the system to kill the bacteria. My parent's car has this ozone generator that would kill bacteria while using the system.

 

[Diode Dynamics]

I'd start by replacing the cabin air filter

Nick C.

 

[plc268]

Mine kinda smells the same way. I replaced my cabin air filter a little while ago, but made no difference.

The main difference now though, is that my AC doesn't work anymore. Never noticed any smell when it was working.

 

[melwff]

any point in checking the evaporator core drain under the car to see if it is partially obstructed with road debris?

 

[PatrickGT]

any point in checking the evaporator core drain under the car to see if it is partially obstructed with road debris?

Most likely the answer.

You need to determine what is trapping the water that is in turn collecting bacteria and mildewing, address root cause which sh*t like cabin filters and Lysol absolutely does not.

 

[randotheking]

The idea is not turn AC off before you park the car. Just leave the AC on and turn the car off. I know it's against public opinion but the problem for fungus to grow is water and by turning AC off and run air only, you are blowing warm air through a very cold system creating tons of condensation which allows bacteria to thrive. By turning off the system with AC running allows the system to warm up slowly and evenly eliminating condensation.
I would actually turn reciculation on about 5 minutes before turning car off making sure the system is cold and dry.
I used to have this issue because of running air after turning AC off. Ever since I don't anymore, I don't smell anything.
Try that for a couple of times see if the smell goes away. If not, you might need to buy these AC cleaning kit that shoots bacteria killing foam into the system to kill the bacteria. My parent's car has this ozone generator that would kill bacteria while using the system.

Turn off a/c, turn off defrost, and turn off the vent 30 seconds before you turn the car off. Outside air won't come in and it will keep the vents clean

 

[Joebroni]

On German vehicles, bacterial growth on the evaporator is a common problem. AC on, smell goes away, AC off, musty smell comes back. You can check your AC drain, but most likely you'd notice water on the floorboards if it was plugged. You really need to get the dealer to remove the cabin filter and put a boroscope inside the housing to see if there is any visual signs of bacteria/mildew and have them replace the evap under warranty. I've got to do one myself this week on an A6 for the same complaint.

BG does make an evaporator cleaning kit, but I can't comment on how well it really works. The one car I used it on, the smell was coming from the washer fluid tank rather than the evaporator so it didn't 'fix' it.

 

[Jon|3.7]

Mine kinda smells the same way. I replaced my cabin air filter a little while ago, but made no difference.

The main difference now though, is that my AC doesn't work anymore. Never noticed any smell when it was working.

yup this just happened to me now after awhile with the smell

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