Interior cabin vent smell problem: any udpates?

[atomic punk]

Kind of resurfacing an old problem, but I don't believe it's been talked about for a while:

It's almost winter here again and I've used the heat a couple times in the mornings... the musty damp smell is STILL coming out of the vents in the cabin: with or without the recirc button on. Also, it doesn't smell like that when I have the AC on. I used it all summer with NO smell.

Anyone diagnose or fix this?

BTW: the Lysol/antibacterial spray in the intake vents under the hood didn't work; I tried it a few times, went through an entire can of that stuff.

 

[mole177]

you need to buy ozium.

 

[NCSCOTT]

Try Replacing the cabin air filter. It might be the problem.

 

[atomic punk]

Try Replacing the cabin air filter. It might be the problem.

Good idea, but that didn't work. I change it often. (I do the 3M home furnace air filter conversion: it's like 4 for the price of 1)

 

[rook]

If Ozium can be used like a fogger, it may work by setting the hvac to recirc , unloading a whole can and let it circulate for a while. When I worked at a dealer years ago the detailer used speciality products to get rid of all sorts of odors in this manner, but it was more of a strong scent than an odor eliminator. You def. need to kill the mold/mildew growing in the ducts by letting it circulate for a while.

 

[atomic punk]

I'll try that stuff.

But why do I only smell it when the heat is on, but not the AC or room temp air?

 

[rook]

I'll try that stuff.

But why do I only smell it when the heat is on, but not the AC or room temp air?

I cant say for sure, other than the spores got a foothold in certain passages while the hvac was moving air through the lower heat ducts.

My truck has a slight initial odor when I turn the a/c on. The only explanation I have is condensation after the truck is turned off. The ducts remain cool and humid air condenses as the truck warms up. Where the mold grows is anyones guess.

I remember another solution, called ozone odor removal. The science behind it uses highly reactive ozone to oxidize (bleach) and destroy odors at their source, without the damage that bleach causes. The dealership used it one time in a car whose owner soaked the interior and the car smelled like my gym socks. The company that was called in had a large ozone generating machine and pumped it into the cabin for about an hour. There were no odors in the car when it was done. I am not sure of the cost of this service.

 

[atomic punk]

Interesting....
I hate the smell. What's worse is that - whatever it is, I must be allergic to it, because whenever I turn on the heat, my nose clogs up like toilet under a fat man's ass.

This statement:

The company that was called in had a large ozone generating machine and pumped it into the cabin for about an hour.

Means BIG bucks! I'm not willing to pay alot of out-of-pocket expenses for this because it's not a problem I caused, it's been there since day 1 (or close to it).

You think the extended warranty covers this? I had this issue checked by the local dealership and the tech sprayed a ton of "something" in the vents. It made the whole cabin smell like the spray. Then when that smell went away in about a day, the musty smell took over again.

 

[Northof49]

Take the roaches out of the ashtray and stop farting in it