does anyone else have a stink a/c when they turn it on after your car has been sitting for a few hours? it kind of smells like mildew and a sweaty t-shirt. what could it be?

 

is this a comon thing with subarus? cause with my other cars i never had this problem.

 

you should generally run your a/c about once a week to get the moisture out. here in the Bay Area, we don't really have that problem as the weather is pretty consistent or warm. I still run the a/c, going through the vent modes for about 30 minutes just to be sure. I'm not sure how you would get rid of the smell now though. Oh and it can happen on any vehicle, it's not just Subarus.

 

but i use my a/c all the time and i just bought my car in july and this is the first time its happening. is there anyway i can clean the mildew out of my pipes or something? or should i just take it in to the dealer and have them deal with it?

 

I wonder if something like this is convered by warranty.

 

The mildew is in the evaporator, which is where the condensed water from the A/C goes. If you run the A/C right up until parking the car there will be water remaining in there and that is how the mildew starts. Using the recirculate mode a lot instead of fresh air will contribute to this also.
The way to reduce or eliminate the smell, at least for a while, is to spray Lysol or something similar into the outside vent intake while the vent fan is running. There are specific products available at parts stores to spray in there that may be more effective than Lysol.
Once you have done this treatment, be sure to prevent a recurrence by turning the A/C off a few blocks before reaching your destination to allow it to dry out, and minimize use of recirculate.

 

yeah what mulder said.

just learn to turn off your AC prior to your arrival. but i also notice even with that training on these humid overcast hawaiian days i still get that smell. even my girlfriend's new RAV has the same problems. but my mom's infinity is all good. so i guess there is something about build quaility too.

 

wheres the outside vent intake? got any pics?

 

if its under waranty, I would take it to the dealership and let them straighten it out. You should have no mold in your car, its rather bad for you. I have seen entire appartment complexes evacuated when they had a mold infistation

 

well today my a/c wasnt as stink as it was yesterday and i havent done anything to fix it yet. but im planning to go buy lysol tomorrow as soon as i find out where to spray it.

 

The fresh air intake area is behind the cowl/grille at the base of the windshield, you would spray in there.

 

what type of lysol should i use? and will it make my inside of the car smell like it?

 

get the lemon scent and dilute it as little as possible/tolerable for smell.

 

they also make stuff formulated specailly for AC. not sure what it is called but maybe napa or checkers might have it. but lysol is just as good and you can use it for other things too.