tombohum

So a couple of days ago I turned the heat on in my car and there was a horrible smell coming from it. When the heater/ac is off it's fine, but everytime I turn it on there's a horrible exhausy smell. Anybody have any ideas?

Mr. Ugly

Make sure the cabin filter is clean.

Also, if you use your AC or your windshield defroster, make sure you flip the controls to regular vent and run the fan a few minutes before parking your car.

Otherwise the ac/defroster builds up condensation and makes the ventilation system really stinky.

There's also an anti mildew / anti bacteria spray you can use to get rid of the smell. I bought some to use, but after I did the fan trick for a while, the funky smell didn't come back anymore.

I'll even turn up the heat full blast and run the fan at high speed with the windows open to dry out the AC system. I close off the driver side vents when I do that so I don't roast.

tombohum

This is an extremely potent smell, and it just started. I sit in my car before work every day (listening to Howard Stern) and I've never smelled it. All of a sudden, there it was, and very pungeant.

Mr. Ugly

The wet ac smell in my car was super stinky like dirty gym socks. That's pretty typical if the ac system doesn't get dried out. The water just sits in there and grows all kinds of funky germs.

Mr. Ugly

Dang... I used to listen to Stern on the local station before he went satellite. He cracked me up.

tombohum

Yeah Howards great. I will try running the heat with the windows open to see if it works.

tombohum

It seemed like it was getting a little bit better but when I went into the house after running the car my wife could smell the odor on me. She says it smells like oil.

Jizz

Car burning something and pulling it into the car.

Exhaust leak? Spill oil on your last change? Run over something?

157dB

Its evaporator mold and the workshop maual shows how to cure it.
I always run the system sans AC to dry out the evaporator before a long storage.

tombohum

It just seems strange that the smell just showed up one day, it wasn't gradual. What is the "workshop manual" and where can I find it?