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I'm not sure if this is

the correct section to be posting this, but here it is. My girlfriend has been telling me about a gross smell coming from her A/C when it is on. She says it smells like feet or mildew. I haven't experienced this for myself, been driving my Cruze, but I do believe her. Could this be the air filter? Or mildew in the A/C system? If so how do I fix this?

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If an A/C system goes unused for a while there will be a smell once it strats getting used again, it should disappear with a bit of use.

She said it's mainly when she turns it on, but she's used it almost everyday so IDK.

It could be. I would remove the air filter and check first. I would also pull up floe mats and check for water.

I'll definitely have to check that, where is the air filter located on the Spark? I know on the Cruze it is in the glovebox.

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Just need to flip down the glovebox and remove it. Then the filter is right there can't miss it.

Thanks, I checked it out and it seemed to be clean, very little dust or dirt, as she has only had the car for about 2,000 miles. I turned it on and didn't smell anything but she's pregnant and can smell anything for miles so hopefully it's nothing serious.

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I'm not sure if this is

the correct section to be posting this, but here it is. My girlfriend has been telling me about a gross smell coming from her A/C when it is on. She says it smells like feet or mildew. I haven't experienced this for myself, been driving my Cruze, but I do believe her. Could this be the air filter? Or mildew in the A/C system? If so how do I fix this?

This is exactly how my mother's 2010 Volkswagen Jetta's A/C smells. It does smell kinda gross for a few minutes but it goes away. I doubt there's much you can really do to eliminate it.

Edited by Trancer07
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I used to have to Lysol out the HVAC yearly in my Taurus. For some reason, it would always mold up really bad. You couldn't smell or see anything with the cabin air filter pulled, but when you turned on the AC ... wow!

What I would do is turn the A/C on (not MAX AC or Recirculate ... important) and turn the blower motor to high, then just spray some lysol into the ducting. It would suck it in and do an excellent job of killing the smells.

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  • 1 year later...

My 98 Jeep Wrangler had that same smell problem. Just before shutting the Jeep off I would turn the A/C off and run the heater on high through the vents for about a minute or two. Did this for a couple of days and that pretty much took care of it. Hope this helps.

Edited by Vicvector
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  • 9 months later...

Your ac unit needs to be maintained regularly to ensure its proper functioning. You can also carry out the maintenance process of your ac all by yourself. The condenser of the ac unit is the main component that need proper cleaning. In addition to all this, you also need to get your ac repair performed from time to time

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Yup..I too have that musty smell..BUT ONLY when I have the recirculate button pushed to on. My solution was to remove the filter in the glove box and spray the filter with Fabreeze or Lysol or Lavender spray. That pretty well worked for us and lasts a few months. If I run the AC without recirculate on..no smell at all and what some others have mentioned about spraying the vents sound like a good idea for those that have not used the AC for a while...Mind you here in Miami we pretty well use the AC 10 months of the year or more.

I sometimes use the same sprays on our central home A/C filters and it gives the house a nice fresh smell. Pinesol works well to kill germs and bacteria, but, well..not quite sure if you want the car or home smelling like a Pine Forest...If you get my drift? To be honest with you..I prefer to open the home windows at night when not too humid..Nice ocean scent without the chemicals.

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  • 9 months later...

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