I am bringing my car to the dealership for service on Friday for an oil change and for the musty odor from the ac. The service rep tols me the cost to deoderize ia 149.95 and isn't covered by the warranty. Car was purchased in August of 2003 and has 22500 miles. Isn't the odor problem normally a plugged up drain line? And shouldn't it be covered under the 36/36000 basic warranty?

I also have the extened warranty but I don't think it would cover this. Also this will be the first time I am going to this dealership as I have moved away from the dealer that had serviced the car.


az240z

 

i get the musty odor when its not set on recirculation & the air is being pulled from outside. if for some reason it sets itself to "pull from outside" i tap the button & go to recirculation mode & the air clears right up......same exact deal with my 300zxtt

-justin

 

this odor is pissing me off but i did a quick fix by spraying some clorox deodorizer spray in the front ducts while the fan was on to suck it in it took most of it away but i still smell alittle but later when i have time i will do my own thorough cleaning.
it would be more helpful if someone can look into what exactly causes this

 

every car has an ordor. my girl's 2005 benz, my z, my 4runner, car before that and before that one, all my friends's cars etc... TAKE A HUGE INHALE AND ENJOY IT!

 

I used this when I had the same problem:

http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=167

Basically, when we run AC and then shut the car down afterwards, the residual water/moisture promotes nasty fungal growth. Some people have advocated turning off AC and running ventilation on high setting for a few minutes before turning off the ignition to dry out the moisture.

 

I could add to your list.

 

Couldn't this also be cause by a old cabin air filter

 

350Zs do not have cabin air filters. :-(

 

WTF how can you make a car without a cabin air filter.

 

Yep, 11 year old car with no smell from the vents... try it it works.

How to kill whats already there, simple... bake it out. You can do it in sessions (perfered two times a day for 5 mins each at full heat for 3 days) or try to do it in one shot of full heat for 15 mins. Either way gotta kill what you have in the vents, then just keep it dry afterwards. The smell should go away.

My moms car got that smell after 70 miles... it normal if you dont prevent it.

 

+1

i use this method too.
just drive around for a few minutes with your ac blast full heat for a few minutes. that will fix the odor and it won't come back for a while. when it comes back, you do the same again.

 

where do you spray this stuff? in the vent outside or inside the car? I was told to spray cleaner into the suction vent inside the vehicle, somewhere underneath the dash, but I can't seem to find the vent...also, can you buy this product in the store???

sorry....didn't want to start a new thread, so i went ahead and brought this back...

 

Run the A/C on max heat and suck outside air for 20 minutes. Then switch to recirculate and go for another 20 mins. The heat can help dry out and hopefully kill some mildew.

Also Ozium is a good product to use for deodorizing.

For a couple of days your car will smell like "ozium" then the smell will go away.

 

^^actually...that'll dry it out, but not necessarily kill the mildew....i've tried that many times...doesn't really work well...

anyone know where the suction/recirculation vent is inside the vehicle???

 

I dont off hand hand but have found them by burning some inncense or anything that produces smoke on the low fan setting to see where its being pulled in ---I will also repeat what I said earlier ---There has been times that I have VERY carefully drilled a hole in the evaperator housing, introduced the disinfectant, then sealed it again with silicone,plug, whatever till I needed to do it again.

 

if you can't find the recirc door put the controls in outside/fresh air and spray the stuff into the leaf screen cowl intake.

if yoy're intent on finding the recirc door, most cars have it under the glove compartment in your passenger foot well. so get a light, lie on your back, and have someone push the recirc door button on and off (with the engine on). the recirc door toggles between sealing the inside and sealing the outside.