If I turn off my AC while driving but leave the fans running, I get a distinct sour/stale smell from the vents.
This also occurs when I turn on the AC. What might be causing this?
Is there a pan or something that needs to be cleaned? There is a fresh Cabin filter installed.
I've been having this funky smell from vents lately. It doesn't exactly smell foul or corpse-like, but rather more of an old unwashed sock....
The smell seems to come out after a bit of driving with the AC off. When I turn it on, it goes away after a little while.
This has been happening everyday, and I'm thinking that it's condensation, or maybe I just need to change my filter... Is there a way to get rid of this smell without changing anything?
I've read that I can spray Lysol at the bottom of the dash board (where the driver's and passengers feet are) with the AC on at the coldest setting with the recirculate button on. Doing that will flush out the vents and kill whatever is in there.
So I have heard that, it is only good to turn on the ECO mode when you are driving in the city or town. When you drive onto highway, you should turn ECO off. Any good explanation of what is the best method of using the ECO button?
View 26 RepliesI bought a brand new 2013 elantra last year and currently has 20,000 miles on it. I had custom halos installed as my lights that turn on automatically when the car is on and is on continuously. I also have hids installed into the headlights.
Last week my battery sign came on when I turned the car on and after driving about 20 minutes the car completely stopped and did not turn on. Took it to the dealership and they first denied me warranty saying because of all the aftermarket stuff we cant touch this car for free. So I paid for the diagnostic which was $102 and after they told me that your alternator fried but they are not sure why. Would it be because of the halos and hids??
I have a strange (musky) smell coming from my air vents when i turn on the air. I was told by the dealer that this could be mold growing inside the vents because I use the AC a lot. Is there any cure for this besides going to the dealer? they told me that they can partial get rid of this by spraying a chemical into the vent but they cannot guarantee that it will work.
View 19 RepliesI have a 2013 and after it sits for a day especially when it's warm the AC vents put out a moldy smell when starting. I've heard all the ideas of Turing off AC before shouting down engine but that shouldn't required for a Lexus of all cars. The dealer ran a refresh we thru the systems that worked for a few days but that was it. I've never had this problem with my 2004 RX. I also replaced the cabin filter with a charcoal based one. Seems a $45,000 vehicle shouldn't have this type of problem
View 14 RepliesWhen starting the RX, I smell something I would describe as "burning insulation". It happens only first 10-20 seconds after the air comes out from the vents, and then the smell disappears. The smell is stronger after prolonged parking. It is the strongest in the morning and less noticeable after I start the RX 2-3 more times ( I usually make 6-8 short trips during the day). The smell was very strong when I started the RX first time after it was parked for one week (while we went on vacation).
There are no warning lights, and the vehicle runs just fine. I pulled out the carbon cabin filter (changed about 3 mo ago) - it did not smell and was very clean still. I am hesitant to go to the dealer-afraid they will rip apart the dash, which they probably will not be able to put back together without having rattles and noises after.
The smell comes from the inside - there is no smell under the hood after I start the RX.
Every time I get in and start up my GX it omits a moldy / musty smell out of the vents, it stinks! It goes away in a matter of seconds but it seems at every start up I get that smell again, it's kind of embarrassing.
View 14 RepliesMy 2010 Dodge Caliber has been leaking anti-freeze very slowly. I notice it when I start the car up and for the first minute I can actually smell the antifreeze coming through the vents when I have the air on. If I park the car and go in to the grocery store for a few minutes and start it up again the smell doesn't re-occur. I imagine I have a leak somewhere that is dripping onto the engine and when the car starts up from cold it burns it which is sending that smell through my vents.
I was told a while ago it could be the heater core, however I would assume that if it was the heater core I would have had a fog up on my window or a constant smell, not one that dissipates after a minute.
I had this problem last year except I was losing a lot of antifreeze (about a whole reservoir in 3 - 4 days. The problem was found to be a broken clamp on one of the hoses. This time however I cannot find any broken clamps or a source of the leak for that matter. I did notice that when I shut the car off the one time, and checked under the hood of the car I seen one air bubble spring up from the reservoir tank. I cannot see any signs of a leak from under the hood. However under the car I can see it is dripping from the frame, but not where it is coming from.
I have a Corolla XLi 2010 (1.6) which from the moment I bought the car it had this problem with the AC (I bought it used and was informed about the issue so I got it with a good price).
The AC sometimes starts and sometimes it doesn't I thought it was just lacking of freon gas but wasn't that, and except this problem the second one is that sometimes it smells like mold coming from the AC. May be are related or maybe not, but I really want to resolve these issues asap.
I'm adding some more info, when the AC isn't working I don't hear the AC sound, and of course when it's working I hear the classic AC sound, and another "thingy" is that when I push the car around 120km/h the AC keeps working more , and also some times if isn't working and I hit the turbo increasing the RPM and making the car scream like a sport car , suddenly the AC starts (but I don't do thsi all the time) and it's just my impression of daily-use.
I was driving into work this morning. I initially had my windows down, vent on, blower on 1, fresh air. It started getting warm as I sat in traffic, so I hit the A/C button, then hit the recycled air button. White fog started coming out of the vents for about a minute. After that, it went away. I didn't smell any freon, but it's got me concerned. Do you think there could be an A/C issue? I just got the car last Saturday?
View 21 Replies2003 elentra. yesterday my friend went to start her car and it wouldn't start. she said it sounded like a baseball card in bike spokes. later that night they tried it again and gave it gas while starting it. it started right up. the car runs fine after they get it started. the check engine light isn't on. and there is increase scent of gas while driving it.
View 3 RepliesExperienced a weird sweat smell when first start your car with the AC on? Is there a way to fix this?
View 3 RepliesI just noticed a burnt smell in the trunk of my 2013 Elantra Limited with 4,000 miles. You can't smell it inside the car. Called the dealer and was told, "Oh, don't worry, that's the burn-in smell", it will go away in a few weeks".
View 5 RepliesIn the last week the I've noticed a moldy metallic smell when I turn my ac on. I've tired to come up with what I would liken it to. Almost as it the ac hadn't been turn own in months or it was almost out of freon. It's only a month old so I wonder what it might be.
View 5 RepliesI'm going to take my Elantra in to get it checked. My Elantra is a 2013, got it in March. Over the last few weeks, I would say, on 4 days or so there has been a STRONG exhaust smell. No smoke, nothing else but a smell. If I'm pulling into the garage with no idling, just pull in and park, I get out and the smell in the garage is very strong. I have to leave the garage open for at least an hour if not more to air it out. The cab ends up having a light smell inside the next day still.
If I'm parking outside when I get out I can still smell it, but not quite as strong, because I'm not in an enclosed area. I don't think it's an exhaust manifold leak, because I don't hear the popping. My best guess is it would be in the tail pipe area pre-catalytic converter, or in the catalytic converter if it is in fact an exhaust leak.
Soon after buying my new 2011 Elantra, I smelled that pungent anti-freeze smell when the engine gets hot. When I brought the car in for its first oil change, the Dealership did a pressure test but did not find any problems. During the next oil change (4 months since purchase) I noticed the fluid level below the Low level. The dealership did a second pressure test but nothing unusual. I thought it was odd that the anti-freeze level would be low after just 4 months, but the dealer was not concerned because it was a hot summer. However, he did inform me that I was the second Elantra owner that had the same complaint that same day. The smell continues when I run the engine through rush hour traffic (stop and go). I purchased florescent leak detector fluid with the UV light. It looks great when I shine the light on the coolant reservoir but I have yet to see any florescent leaks even though I still smell the anti-freeze.
View 39 RepliesI went out of town for 10 days and left my car parked. When I returned the inside of the call smells like a dead animal. I keep my car clean and do not eat in it. My husband checked all over including underneath to see if there was something dead. He found nothing. Yesterday, I had to turn on the defrost setting for the windows due to condensation in the car. This is not normal for my climate right now. We are 70 degrees with little to no humidity. The cabin filter was changed 6 months ago.
We have tried airing it out for a 2 days, spraying Ozium and other sprays, but the smell persists.
About a 2 weeks ago I took the 2011 in to Hyundai to get the oil changed. (For the record I brought my own oil and Bosch oil filter). Anyhow, yesterday, noticed a nice pool of oil under the car after the first stop on errands. Looked underneath, and sho' nuff, there was a good little stream of oil. Made a bee line to the same dealership to drop it off. On the way we could smell burning oil and it was running like crap.
The service dept is open on Sunday so they called to tell me it was just the filter, he said probably a "burr" ?? and it can happen. My questions are Why did it take two weeks to start and should I be worried more damage happened? Supposed to pick it up tomorrow so trying to be prepared.
I have 2011 Elantra at ~20,000 mile, and strange things started happening since last year...and it kinda blew up today.
My dashboard has been flickering randomly for a while, as in everything goes dark and turns up again in the middle of driving.
And today it turned off and turned on (as it usually does), and the dashboard seemed broken; speedometer stuck at 0 mph, rpm meter stuck at 0, all warning lights turned on, gas meter going up and down and stuff.
Fortunately enough I was close to home so I drove it back home, and my gear shift was stuck at neutral (I could switch b/w N and D).
So I took out the shift lock release? thing and managed to put the gear to P and pull my key out. I stepped out of my car and I smelled something burning...not a very good sign. What should I do? Well I think I need to take it to dealership tomorrow but I'm not sure if it'll be safe to drive...
Ok, here's the situation... (Elantra GLS - Automatic)
I was at a 4-way stop sign. No other cars were around so I accelerated. Then suddenly, I hear and see a car coming at me REALLY fast, and well, I panicked. I floored the throttle (almost literally), and I heard something popping or maybe it was a farting sound... It happened so fast that I don't remember clearly...
Then behind me was a HUGE cloud of smoke behind me. I mean really, it covered up the whole street. It was 10 PM, so I couldn't really tell what color it was, but it seemed to be white... So I turned off my car. Checked the engine, no smoke from the engine. I started it up again, and instead to revving to about 2000 rpm at start up like it always does, it only went to about 1000, and more smoke was flushed out the exhaust.
I was close to home, and with no 24-hour mechanic shop around me, I drove home. As I drove home, I had quite a bit of smoke trail behind me which scared me through out the whole 2 minutes of driving. I got home, and I checked the exhaust again, but there was no more smoke. However, a burning smell lingered around the exhaust.