Bad smell from AC/vent

I have a bad smell coming from my AC vent. Smells kinda like mold. It's hard to tell because it goes away after running for a min or so, but it does seem to be worse when on vent as compared to max AC. My guess is that water has collected in the duct work somewhere or maybe the cabin air filter got wet.

Has anyone else had this problem? It's an 05 with less than 30K miles, so I don't think the cabin air filter needs replacing.

It's an 05 with less than 30K miles, so I don't think the cabin air filter needs replacing.
I don't know about that, our 04's needed replacing. They can also get wet/moldy if water collects in that area. Takes 5 minutes to check it ;)

My 01 does this and I have to spray lysol in the system every few months. The problem happens after the cabin air filter, so changing that won't do much good.

What you need to do is get all of the stuff off and take out the cabin filter. Once you do that, start the car up. Put the HVAC system on and the blower on high. Then spray Lysol in it for a good 3 minutes. I do it and it works fine everytime.

One thing I was reading on the internet a while ago about this was it is caused by turning the HVAC too off when you turn the car off. I solved the problem somewhat, or prevented myself from getting it by putting it on something (like feet) before I turn the car off. That allows dry air to circulate through it and then it won't get moldy.

Thanks a lot. I will definately give it a try.

Where is the AC drain. I want to check it also.

One thing I was reading on the internet a while ago about this was it is caused by turning the HVAC too off when you turn the car off. I solved the problem somewhat, or prevented myself from getting it by putting it on something (like feet) before I turn the car off. That allows dry air to circulate through it and then it won't get moldy. GIVE THAT MAN A CEEGAR!

Until you get in the habit, tape yourself a note to the dash saying, "BEFORE EXIT OPEN VENT." Put the control on AC, not MAX, and that way it opens the vent to the outside allowing air to circulate through your car. Otherwise it sits there and bakes like a humid hot house and mold loves growing in that enviroment. Max recirculates air inside for max cooling. AC takes air from the outside vent and cools it.

Where is the AC drain. I want to check it also. Not sure but should be under dash right on the right. If it was clogged the carpet would be wet on the foot boards. When you shut it of and let it sit is there a water puddle under it? Depends on humidity but on my 03 if it's fairly humid and I park it there's a puddle maybe fourth of a cup on the garage floor. I notice when I back down the ramp out of the garage it leaves a big streak of water so evidently parking it nose up makes it drain more.

Thanks a lot guys. I left the vent on the floor setting and this seems to have helped already. I normally always leave it in the off position.

Until you get in the habit
Yep it's just a matter of training yourself. We had to get ourselves in the habit of using the parking brake because we heard how important it is. Once you get in the habit of doing something it's easy :)

Put the control on AC, not MAX
Assuming his car has a max setting :wink: Our '04 doesn't, when you turn on the AC it automatically adjusts itself to the best setting depending on the inside air temp. It also dehumidifies.

Parking brake is second nature when driving an auto for me now. I just wish my indicator light would work.

I bought my 03 April 06 and this Fall I decided to pull the front cowling apart and sure enough there was the cabin filter never been changed dirty as a bar room floor on Sunday morning. I had asked the ford service dept if it had one and they said unless it refered to it in the maintenance book it did not. WRONG! The filter is like $13.00 so I got one of those good AC filters for $5.00 that catch everything and cut it to the right size and it works fine. I figure with a little care I can make ten of them out of the $5.00 filter.

I seem to remember reading somewhere a guy got a terrible smell and when he looked in the filter found nest of baby mice abandoned and dead and ripe as could be. Yup, that'll get a date with a nice looking lady off on the right foot, your car smelling like dead mice. :slap: :dunno:

The AC drain should be about halfway down the firewall on the passenger's side. Looking at the AC enclosure in the passenger's compartment will give a clue. It will either look like a small tray (as is the case with a '96 Taurus), or like a small tube that comes out and dogs off (stops in midair with an open end). Hunting it after the AC has been running for a few minutes, and is still running, will give you an aditional clue, as you can find where the water's coming from (thus blowing the cover of this elusive drain line! :evillol:).

Doesn't anyone's car have a removable water diverter above the cabin filter??? My 99 does, after reading this thread I thought man haven't chang3d mine in a while, looked back in records, it's been 4 years, ouch.. parts store had it on sale, about 13 with tax, old one was pretty dirty, however bone dry, diverter was doing it's job..

I checked my filter yesterday and it was extremely dirty but dry. I gotta say thanks a lot to Ford for the half @$$ way they designed the cover. They could have easily made the filter a little easier to get to. I popped one of the metal clips off and the thing bounced half way across the carport. It took me about 10 min's to find it. Then the cover didn't seem to go back on just right. I'll check it out a little better when I replace the filter, but it doesn't seem that it was designed to come off and go back on multiple times.

The good news is that I haven't noticed the smell since I've been keeping the vent open.

On a completely different note can someone tell me why it takes longer to fill my tank, as the price of gas goes up. It's not like the price of gas makes the pump run slower. Is this supposed to trick me into thinking I'm getting more for my money or something?