Every time I turn on the a/c I get a horrible smell coming through the vents like old sneakers or a gym bag that has not been cleaned out in some time. I thought it was just because I hadn't run the a/c all winter, but it has been doing it every time I turn the a/c on or off. Have any of you run into this?
View 2 RepliesFor about 2 years as soon as I turn on the heater in my 1995 Avalon a horrible acrid smell pours out of my vents. It is so strong that I cannot use my heater. Last winter my regular independent garage (which is very dependable and honest) worked on this problem. They said they found the remains of a dead animal, cleaned it out, and put in an odor masking preparation. As soon as that wore off, the stench returned, maybe not quite as bad, but still really awful. I can't use my heater, and winter is COLD.
View 5 RepliesI'm having an issue that I think can be resolved. There are no leaks...no smells...I get roughly 12 MPG.. I drive like an old lady YET gas evaporates like boiling water in my car.
View 16 RepliesMy CPO '11 Lux has a strong odor coming from the air vents. First thought it might be some kind of air freshening canister that was injecting the fragrance, but now wondering if I have an antifreeze leak???
View 6 RepliesMy wife was in the car today, and complained about a strange odor coming from the A/C vents. I would describe it as a slight vinegar/alcohol/sour odor. I think it is from the A/C vents.
View 40 RepliesSo, at 14k it looks like I have that musty smell coming out of the AC vents. I've seen a TSB on here that addresses it. Hopefully my first trip to the dealership for anything other than an oil change doesn't present me with any other surprises.
View 8 RepliesI noticed this weekend the vents in my 080camry have a foul musty smell coming from them, what this could be.
View 6 RepliesMy 2009 Corolla "S" has a musty yucky smell that happens off and on. It is coming out of the vents on the dash, and it is worse when the air conditioner is on.
My mechanic has smelled it, but does not know what it is that is causing it.
I put a new filter in behind the glove box, but I think it was worse after that. So strange that it comes and goes like it does.
My bride reports a musty smell, possibly coming from the A/C vents, in her new v5. I've been away from home for six weeks and have not driven the car since we brought it home from the dealer on Sept 2. In years past we had a series of Ford Tauruses that had this problem. Apparently moisture from condensation builds up somewhere in the system and mold/mildew results. We used to have to spray Lysol into the HVAC air intake to alleviate the problem for a while.
View 19 RepliesI noticed a bit of funky smell coming from the vents when I first turn on the AC and after turning off the AC. So I am trying to locate the air conditioner evaporator drain hose and make sure it's not plugged.
View 5 RepliesWhen the car is warm with the A/C off(vent air only) you can smell an oily smell coming from the inside air vents. The smell is also evident from the engine compartment when exiting the car. I do not have any oil leaks that I can find and have been good about cleaning up spilled oil when changing the filter. I've had the car when new and it currently has about 63k miles on it now. The smell seems to be getting worse. No mods to the engine and everything else seems to be running well otherwise.
View 2 RepliesI recently purchased a 01 Passat 1.8T and noticed a strong 'used oil' smell coming in through the vents, especially at stoplights; the vehicle continued to smell badly when parked and turned off.
After looking around the PCV system, I found a small check valve near the airbox that was dry-rotted and non-functioning. As I continued to search, I found a large PCV hose directly under the intake manifold closer to the firewall. This appears to be ~3/4" hose that appears to be missing a connector. It appears as though there was supposed to be some sort of male/male insert and some clamps that are supposed to connect these tubes.
Any diagram or a DIY replacement walk-through for the PCV sytem on the 1.8T? Now that I've found the pcv break, I'd really like to get it changed out.
Mk7 GTI, currently at 5k miles but strong mildew smell coming from the vents.. I know the cabin air filters will last at least 15-20k miles.
I read before that the condensation hoses were sometimes installed incorrectly leading to run off inside the cabin. Can that be it?
For the past month or so I've noticed that there are a few strange smells coming from the air vents on my GTI. Firstly, if the car sits for awhile and then is started it smells like that model airplane glue or some kind of strong adhesive inside the cabin. It goes away rather quickly. The second one worries me more. When I run the car hard for a few minutes (higher speeds, highway pull or two, etc.) and then come to a stop at a light, there is a very distinctive "burning" smell. It might sound gross, but the closest thing I can think of that smells like it is the smell in a dentists office when you're getting a cavity drilled out of a tooth.
View 7 RepliesI have an electrical odor coming from my vents. I always smell it when I start the vehicle. Other then that its not continuous just intermittent. I did have the passengers side front running board light short out and have since cut it off until its warmer to replace it. I wrapped it in electrical tape and stuck it back in the running board. I did have the odor when the fuse was burn out for the running board light. I replaced the pressure switch for the cruse control last year. I was thinking the blower might be going bad. What it may be?
View 12 RepliesMy fiance has a 2011 Corolla LE. A couple years ago this weird smell started coming through her AC vents. It is intermittent happening when the car is parked or in drive. Once the smell comes through the AC the only way to make it stop it to push the AC button so that normal air blows through, turn outside air on, or switch the AC air speed a couple times, or just wait a minute or two. I changed the engine and cabin filter, sprayed the vents and everything else with cleaner and check the drain tube. I don't know what else to do.
View 3 RepliesSo I've been noticing this winter that pretty much after every cold start a weird smell comes through the vents. To me it smells like natural gas, like the type found in some gas heating systems. It tends to go away after about 10mins. It may have also faded in and out once or twice when the car was running for an extended period of time.
View 14 RepliesWhen stopped at lights I start to smell burning oil coming from the vents when I have the heat on. It only happens every now and then and only when you are stopped at a light. I tried letting the engine idle after driving once and I can't smell it when i open the hood. I do synthetic oil changes every 5,000 since the car was new. I don't know what it could be? My last oil change was about 2,000 miles ago so I can't see it being burn off from the last change still.
View 4 RepliesNoticed a deodorized smell coming from dash vents when heater put on? After my 30k service I noticed the smell of deodorizer.
View 6 RepliesFor the last few months, I've had an annoying problem with my 2003 Liberty. If I'm driving the car with the blower on (i.e. when it's cold out), whenever I stop the car and am idling, I get a very strong exhaust smell coming in through the vents. If I turn the fan off, the smell goes away. At first I figured it was due to being behind other vehicles, but now I've noticed that it does it all the time, even when there's nobody else around.
I brought the jeep into a shop a couple of weeks ago to deal with a separate CEL issue (evap leak - fixed by replacing gas cap) and I asked the mechanic to look for an exhaust leak. He said he didn't see any readily apparent problems with the exhaust line.
I'd like to deal with this because it's not very pleasant to inhale exhaust fumes through the vents. I intend to take it back in - but is there anything I can tell him (i.e. like, a particular part of the exhaust system to inspect more carefully) that will solve the problem?
2003 Honda Odyssey 150K+ miles... My wife called today and said she was smelling raw gas coming from the heater vents on the first cold day this year. I thought we had this issue last year but not 100%. What it could be or how to fix it?
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