Horrible smell after turning A/C off
 

The smell is there as soon as I turned off the A/C and will last for about 10-20 mins. Anyone else has this issue?

I talked to Nissan and they said it will cost about $200 to fix the A/C lines. (they've changed the filter but that didn't help at all).

is it' like a musty cheeezy sock smell? (ok, not sure exactly wat that smells like)

keep the AC running at all times. you got mold in the evaporator probably.

and check your in cabin air filter, perhaps it needs replacing.

Ive actually been having a funny odor myself inside of my car and it smells like a damp rag that hasnt dried properly (if that makes any sense) but the thing is the odor isnt always there and i went smelling everything in my car and couldnt pinpoint where its coming from, but i believe it might be from keeping it parked in an indoor parking garage for long hours over night because the parking garage does have a funny smell itself because when i leave it parked outside in the sun i dont get any smell from it, not sure but im changing my cabin filter to see if that does the trick..hopefully it does

Diet change, maybe? :D

Does the car only smell when you get in :bowrofl: just kidding, but I had to say it. Mine actually has a little bit of a musty/mildew smell when turning it on after sitting a while. However, the smell goes away completely after the A/C has been running for a minute or so.

I've found that shutting off the AC a few minutes before shutting off the car cures this on other cars, my Z doesn't have it, yet!

Mine has a musty smell to it when turning it on after having been used prior too. :confused: It goes away after a few minutes of circulation though.

Would be rather embarrassing if it happened on a date or something though... :icon17:

:icon17:

always makes for a great start up convo with the ladies :icon17:

"Was that you?"



:bowrofl:

I was under the assumption that we do not have in cabin air filters? I know my Z as an 09 model does not. But, perhaps I am grossly incorrect.

Per your problem sounds like mold in the evaporator.

I think they added them post '09?

I would have to do some searching, but I believe that's what I read at one point.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes it does smell like mildew/mold. It's so intense it's suffocating. How do I remove the mold? I've tried leaving the A/C on for a long drive but I can smell it when I turn it off or start the car again.

Ha I would suggest looking for a rat, check under the battery cover area

The '09s did not come with the cabin filter but use the same air handler as several other Nissan/Infiniti models that do. Everything is there but the filter. I had my dealer install a filter in my '09.

There is a hole in the firewall through which you can see if the filter is installed (at least on '09s). Remove the battery cover and look behind and below the battery.

I'm pretty sure it's mold/mildew forming on the evaporator since the car was parked in a garage for a few months in Raincouver.

Can I spray some mold remover on the evaporator coils? If so, where can I locate the evaporator? Thanks.

I had this moldy (sometimes rubbery) smell in the past, I was able to get rid of it by turning on the heater for at least 10 minutes for about a week while driving to and from work. After that, I am setting the temp at 75 uncirculated (fresh air) every time the AC is on. The smell never came back.

Btw, thanks to Kenchan's great advise!

I thought the smell was from sardines I stupidly ate in the car one time. But the description sounds right, I never smell anything with ac. Wonder if they can replace lines under warranty??

Eating sardines in the car? oh man...

fwiw, ive been told in the past to keep the fresh air setting on a much as possible to avoid mold growth. so i usually drive with the ac off and the fresh air setting on. occasionally, i will get a musty smell after it rains, but it will go away after driving the car for a bit. to avoid this, i put the air on recirculate mode if i am in the car when it is raining.

basically, damp & warm air will promote mold growth. so keep the fresh air coming in to dry everything out, or keep the ac on to keep it cold.

edit: i don't think it is possible to have outside air and the ac on at the same time.

Outside air and A/C is always on if in upper air settings, otherwise your windows would fog up. In the defrost setting you are actually unable to set it in air re-circulation mode.

Just try it, put it in recirculation mode with A/C on, 1 minute later you will be blind :rofl2:

The thing is I don't smell it when the A/C is off (fresh air mode), doesn't matter if it's raining or sunny. But as soon as I turn it off after using the A/C, I smell dirty moldy towels blasting in my face.

It's pretty much impossible to prevent mold/mildew around the evaporator. It stays wet/damp a lot and you're always bringing in outside air that contains spores. Even if you get rid of it, it will just come back.

Same thing happens with home A/Cs but they are designed to run the fan for a while after the compressor shuts off which helps drying and limits growth to acceptable levels.

As others have mentioned, running with the compressor off as much as possible will help keep things drier and reduce (not eliminate) the problem. Turning it off a block before you park will not help all that much as it takes a while for the evaporator to warm up and things to dry out; but it's better than nothing.

If the smell is really bad you may have a very large accumulation or a very smelly variety. I'm not sure what to do in that case - call a pro.

This smell will always be there if you have your AC on all the time. I have learned to live with it. I had three Zs and the smell was the same. LOL

I found this to be the solution whenever the AC produced a smell. Just turn the AC off a few mins before turning the car off will help the smell go away. Trust me it works, did it on my Z and G37.

Holy lack of punctuation, Batman! :icon18:

This is a well known issue and frankly Nissan should be embarrassed. I know I am if I smell it with a passenger :mad: Anyway the best thing I have found if you don't want to mess with turning the AC on and off all the time is to keep the temp a click or two above 75F. It will switch back and forth between recirc and fresh by itself and this seems to help minimize it.

Is it possible to spray an anti mold compound into or on something?

The most popular fungicides are bleach and vinegar, both of which can attack the Aluminum parts of the system (bleach attacks just about everything). Some kind of Silver micro/nano-particle spray around the evaporator area might help.

There may be a restriction in the drain. Kink/dirt/mold in the hose, &c.

this isnt an issue thats specific to nissan. it affects every single car. if you turn the AC on, the cool air condenses within the air ducts and will eventually mold. the way to solve it is to simply turn off the AC and let it blow outside air for a few minutes before coming to your destination. ive maintained this method ever since ive gotten my Z and my AC has never smelled bad.

if you already have the moldy smell, then i would suggest blowing the heater on the highest setting for upto 30minutes. just roll your windows down and drive around for a while. it should kill or get rid of the funk.

this affects every single car that uses AC. how do i know? i valeted cars for popular country clubs and what not for a year or so. every single car had an initially terrible smelling AC

Lol Yea, after reading over that rambling of a run on sentence of mine I cringed a bit haha. I'm sure my grade school teacher was doing back flips and head spins in her grave as I typed it. "Pour a little something out for the lost homie" :bowrofl:

chops is right.. there are actually companies that sell products to clean the evap core out and there are aerosols to spray in your cowl panels and ducts to kill all existing mold, however, if you continue to run you ac without doing some of the above recommendations it is just a matter of time before it comes back.. i know a company called BG products has a couple of products for it..

i looked it up and they are listed as BG part 708 and 709