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AC stinks!

3620 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  KayGeeP
Hey guys. I have a 2020 HA Sport 2.0. I noticed last summer that the AC has a nasty stench puffing our of the vents whenever I turned it on. I was advised to occasionally turn on the fan full force for a few miles, in order for the condenser to dry up any kind of moisture that would ordinarily sit and cause mildew to grow. I started doing that occasionally (once or twice a month) as recommended and didn't really have the issue return.

Well now that summer is almost here again, my AC is doing the same exact thing, but, I need to blast the air on fan only every single day, otherwise the AC will stink the next day I run it. I honestly can't remember having this issue with any other car I've owned.

If I forget to run the fan at full bore the day before, the stink is so bad that my passengers get disgusted and this is very embarrassing. I have changed out the cabin air filter and that had no noticeable difference whatsoever. I resorted to buying Fabreeze air refreshers and clipping them on the vents so the stink isn't too bad if I forget to run the air (AC off and vent opened) full blast.

At this point I'm getting pretty frustrated with the whole ordeal. I can't understand why this is even a big deal. However, I also can't ignore the fact that my AC smells like it's pumping out feces scented air each and every time.

At this point, is it worth a trip to the dealership to have it looked at? Is there anything they can do? Has anyone else ran into this issue?

Thanks in advance.
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Sounds like case for a dealer check if its still under the 3/36 warranty. sounds like you may have had a leak somewhere and there's something moldy/funky going on
Sounds like case for a dealer check if its still under the 3/36 warranty. sounds like you may have had a leak somewhere and there's something moldy/funky going on
Well, it's still under warranty. I never thought about a leak or anything like that. I'll definitely make the appointment then.

Thank you for the reply!
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No problem. Yeah, it's possible water or something got into the hvac case one way or another and is growing some sort of mildew/mold. not usually what people think of first but if it keeps coming back there's gotta be a constant problem
No problem. Yeah, it's possible water or something got into the hvac case one way or another and is growing some sort of mildew/mold. not usually what people think of first but if it keeps coming back there's gotta be a constant problem
Very plausible! And likely the reason why! Well thanks for the suggestion!
@Jc0187 my first thought was to check/change the cabin filter, but it appears you've done that with no improvement. I then thought about this thread I had read - Rodent problem. Warning graphic picture possibly being your issue. However if it was a rodent issue then I would think you'd have the smell all the time not just when using the AC. Most likely as @Mr.2.g0 mentioned it's got to be moisture/mold/etc related to the AC. Hope you get this resolved soon and let us know what was found when you do.
@Jc0187 my first thought was to check/change the cabin filter, but it appears you've done that with no improvement. I then thought about this thread I had read - Rodent problem. Warning graphic picture possibly being your issue. However if it was a rodent issue then I would think you'd have the smell all the time not just when using the AC. Most likely as @Mr.2.g0 mentioned it's got to be moisture/mold/etc related to the AC. Hope you get this resolved soon and let us know what was found when you do.
Thanks. I'm going to call the dealership on Monday and make an appointment.
how sure are you it's your AC? my musty smell problem was the weather strip on the passenger door wasn't properly installed. a drive after a rainy day was always a nightmare.. sometimes i feel like the smell is still there
Well, where I live, it rains once a year lol. I don't think it's my weather stripping.
Had this issue for a while.. I left my gym bag in the car overnight and woke up to a musty car. What worked for me was spraying some lysol/disinfectant spray through the AC intake in the engine bay. Its at the top right under the drivers side windshield wiper. I removed the cabin filter before and put the air on full blast and sprayed after switching between front, rear, bottom, etc vents. It will smell like the spray for a week or two but eventually it goes away. Guessing it was some kind of bacteria that the spray got rid of.
Try Spraying Vent Intake with ( Disinfectant ) - Might have something stuck in Air Intake system , but the A/C Drier may need changing . .

When My Honda stinks - It's Time to Change the Cabin Air Filter ~ see Link Filter went 25-26K
Swap Out Cabin Filter
I was experiencing it too!! I tried so many cleaner, car scent and almost clean my whole interior but no luck!

But when I tried the lysol method not it’s gone! I tried it two weeks ago and I can’t smell any bad odor anymore.

I tried lysol method probably two months ago but I did not fully ran the ac and the lysol. The technique is full blast the ac, a little gap on the windows, spray the lysol outside, after spraying from outside make sure the recirculation ON. (but after you spray) and keep it running for 15 minutes. Yes 15 minutes (I think I did 20 just to make sure) and it’s gone. Hopefully it works with you.
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