Help me solve this problem

sgo

sgo

New member
When we first get into the car and the heating/air conditioning blower starts blowing, the air has a rather annoying smell. I don’t know if you would call it musty or something else, but it is really bad. After a few minutes it either goes away or we get used to it. I’m not sure.

What can be causing this? And, more importantly, how can I fix it?

The car is a 2002 Monte Carlo. No “climate control,” just a manual A/C system.

Thanks for your help.
 
You may want to check your cabin filter. I've seen that fix many problems in older cars that have had the chance to build up all sorts of junk (leaves, pine needles, etc) in the filter over the years. However, since this is a 2002 model car, I'm not sure if it will help. :dunno You can also put some sort of air freshener on the filter to make the air more tolerable.

~Seth
 
it might be a bacterial problem so i am told, i started researching this for myself yesterday, the odor in our mitsubishi is so strong it makes me sick and a new filter didnt help, i am going to order this and see if it fixes the problem, the problem in our car has gotten so much worse in the last 2 weeks we have had so much rain yuk i cant even turn on the hvac, i found this is the link http://www.keep-it-kool.com/treat/treatment.html
 
My brother is a Lincoln Mecury tech but he has mentioned a number of times that alot of times what happens is that due to the extreme temps of HVAC systems they develop condensation on the inside of the system and that can sometimes be the cause of the odors. He has said they use a spray that they spray into the heater vents and such which helps the problem however it can typicly comes back. As said above I would check the cabin filter...I would also recomend checking the condition of the heater core. You might even want to check out some monte fourms to see if anyone else has the same problem they might have a fix for it if its a common problem!
 
sgo said:
When we first get into the car and the heating/air conditioning blower starts blowing, the air has a rather annoying smell. I don’t know if you would call it musty or something else, but it is really bad. After a few minutes it either goes away or we get used to it. I’m not sure.

What can be causing this? And, more importantly, how can I fix it?

The car is a 2002 Monte Carlo. No “climate control,” just a manual A/C system.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
It's a pretty common problem and GM has a product to help take care of it. It seems to be a combination of moisture in the air conditioner evaporator, bacteria, and mold. The stuff is easy to use and not expensive. Seems to work, but I use it fairly often to keep from having a lot of built up crap to work with. Any GM parts department should have it.

Charles
 
I'm not suggesting your car's HVAC has Legionaire's Disease-type bacteria/mold but the stuff grew on the hotel's A/C cooling coils.

You could have something growing in the heater core area or somewhere in the ductwork.

My Dad had a similar problem a few years ago with stuff growing in his window mounted A/C unit & he was getting pretty ill (he's 80+). Had the A/C units professionally cleaned & no more problems but they get blasted with Lysol every spring before mounting.

Pretty sure there are mold detection kits that will reveal the presence of mold, bacteria, etc .... just by letting the air in your ductwork blow across the stuff (gel) in the mold kit first time your turn it on every day when the odor seems to be the strongest.
 
What a great place to come for help!

A cabin filter was the first thing I looked for because my Impala had one. I could not find one on this car.

I was not aware there were Monte Carlo forums anywhere. I'll search Google for those.

I'll check with my AC Delco dealer for the anti-bacterial/mold spray.

Thanks very much!
 
CharlesW said:
It's a pretty common problem and GM has a product to help take care of it. It seems to be a combination of moisture in the air conditioner evaporator, bacteria, and mold. The stuff is easy to use and not expensive. Seems to work, but I use it fairly often to keep from having a lot of built up crap to work with. Any GM parts department should have it.

Charles
Click to expand...

What is the name of the product??
 
SGO

Its mold in the AC/heater vents I see that you are from WA might be cause and effect of the rain in your area. I have used lysol for this with good results. Spray a liberial amount in the vents to start. I then turn on the heater to the coolest I can get then, put in re-cirulate setting. Then spray in the intake vents up by the windshield. Let this run for a minute then I turn up the heat to let the lysol dry out a bit. It has alway removed the smell in the cars that I have done. You can also buy foggers on line for this for the reason. That's my take on this one
 
Einszett Klima Cleaner is made for this type of problem, too. But before you simply treat the symptom, you really should look for the cause. I know in my Jeep, there was a problem with the runoff of the condensation from the AC. It became clogged and the standing water resulted in fungal growth that caused a smell. Once I cleaned it and ran some Lysol through the vents, everything was fine.

When you do decide what you want to run through the system, the easiest way to get it through is to look for where your fresh air inlet is (mine was under the hood by the wiper cowl), then set your system to draw in fresh air, turn the fan on high, and spray from outside the car into the inlet so it is drawn completely through the system.
 
the link i posted above is for a foam type product that is suppose to kill the bacteria and protect for months, i read on another forum that the GM cleaner is extremely high priced and werent happy with the results
david at autopia has some a/c vent spray on sale right now i might order that and try it
:)
 
billy0001 said:
What is the name of the product??
Click to expand...
The product I referred to is:
Odor Eliminator
It is in a 16 oz. spray bottle with a GM Vehicle Care logo on it.
What I think is the part number. #12378554

Charles

List price was $13.93
 
Last edited:
CharlesW said:
The product I referred to is:
Odor Eliminator
It is in a 16 oz. spray bottle with a GM Vehicle Care logo on it.
What I think is the part number. #12378554

Charles

List price was $13.93
Click to expand...

Thanks Charles!!
 
BG Products has two products that might help. http://www.bgprod.com/bgprofessional/bgproducts/aircon.html

BG Frigi-Clean supposedly gets rid of odors by inserting a nozzle directly into the evaporator. I'm not sure if consumers are allowed to do this themselves; contact BG for a shop near you that performs this service.

BG Frigi-Fresh is a spray (I think) that you spray into your vent under the hood.

But in my old Grand Marqs, I simply sprayed Lysol. I used a half a can (!) which sounds like a lot, but it killed those odors dead. :)

Now that I have a new Grand Marq, I'll have to discover where, oh where my filter is.

Oh. In the days of yore, we were advised to shut your A/C off about a half a mile before arriving at your destination, to give the system time to vent itself with fresh, outside air. After my initial use of the Lysol spray, I practiced this method, and the odors never returned. I can't say whether this is a good practice for today's cars, as my owner's manual tells me to leave my A/C in the Automatic or Vent position so that my car can "breathe" while parked (with all the windows rolled up). Presumably, this will prevent the windows from cracking in the sun. :hot

Charles
 
Find someone with an ozone machine. Run the AC on recirculate with the ozone machine running for 20 minutes or so. The ozone circulating through your AC system will kill the mold, bacteria, or what ever it is that is causing the smell. The sprays will only temporarily cure the problem.
 
I believe the product I got was from Kool-It I think I paid $8.50 plus tax.

When I had trouble determining just where to drill the hole I decided to bag-it untill I could have someone with experience point it out to me. It was not obvious as I have seen in other cars. So I replaced the cabin filter anyway and guess what? The smell went away! I'll probably not bother using it now.
 
ZJ JIM 96 said:
Einszett Klima Cleaner is made for this type of problem, too. But before you simply treat the symptom, you really should look for the cause. I know in my Jeep, there was a problem with the runoff of the condensation from the AC. It became clogged and the standing water resulted in fungal growth that caused a smell. Once I cleaned it and ran some Lysol through the vents, everything was fine.

When you do decide what you want to run through the system, the easiest way to get it through is to look for where your fresh air inlet is (mine was under the hood by the wiper cowl), then set your system to draw in fresh air, turn the fan on high, and spray from outside the car into the inlet so it is drawn completely through the system.
Click to expand...

Amen ZJ. I had the same problem with my Jeep.
 
I do know on 97 -00 Monte Carlo's the Cabin Filter is located on the passagener side of the car under the cowl. You access it from under the hood.
 
Everybody has good suggestions for remedies. What causes it? Don't turn your car off with the A/C running. Before turning your air conditioner off, or before you get to your destination, turn your A/C off and run the vent selection on HI for 1-2 minutes to help eliminate the condensation/moisture build-up within your vents. This was suggested to me when I asked a GM tech this very question about my parent's car.

Ever since then, I always put that suggestion into practice. Drive my wife nuts, but I also tell her why and the effect it can have on the vehicle and the air we breathe. She then quiets down. You can tell when the condenstaion/moisture has stopped coming out and its just fresh air.
 
Luv-N-It said:
Everybody has good suggestions for remedies. What causes it? Don't turn your car off with the A/C running. Before turning your air conditioner off, or before you get to your destination, turn your A/C off and run the vent selection on HI for 1-2 minutes to help eliminate the condensation/moisture build-up within your vents. This was suggested to me when I asked a GM tech this very question about my parent's car.
Click to expand...
In the sixth and final paragraph of my post, I said
crobinso said:
Oh. In the days of yore, we were advised to shut your A/C off about a half a mile before arriving at your destination, to give the system time to vent itself with fresh, outside air.
Click to expand...
Check it out, my post is down there (or up there), somewhere. :)
 
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