All of a sudden my a/c started smelling funny. It's like a mildew smell and i only smell it when i first turn on the a/c then it kind of goes away or maybe my nose just gets used to the smell. Any idea what could be causing this nasty smell. This is a 2001 3.0 automatic ranger

 

My mom's Toyota rav4 has the same problem, I suspect that condensation has puddled in the vents somewhere and the Georgia heat is an incubator for mildew when it sits around all day until she uses it around 5pm to go to work

 

yeah, i'm in the nasty florida heat and humidity so i could have the same thing . I want to know how i can get rid of it.

 

its normal like said above its all the condensation puddles up, but a guy once told me when your parking your car/truck for a while, before you turn the key off turn the a/c off and just let warm air blow through for a couple mins before you turn your vehical off and when you get back in and turn the ac on it shouldnt smell. Ive been doin it ever since and it has worked for me!

 

Turn the fan high and spray some lysol into the cowl.
Turn off the fan and rinse the cowl off.

This should kill this round of smells.

If you run the ac try and turn it off 5 minutes or so before you get to your strop to allow it to dry out.

If you want you can pull the fan out and use a light rinse on the inside of the box. This will clean it and verify the drain is not clogged.

 

I've noticed the same thing occasionally.. try the suggestion above, it's worked for me as well. I usually try turn the switch to the dash vents a few minutes before I reach my destination...

 

Check the condensate drain hose and ensure its open. I've seen the hose end get sticky and wind up glue the opening shut, causing water to build up in the evaporator box. Its located under the AC box in the engine compartment. Once your sure its open, spray some lysol as Blhde suggested. You may need to repeat several times over the next couple of weeks to knock out the smell

 

I don't see any condensate drain hose. When i look under the truck there is just like a whole that water is dripping out of. I have tried everything posted here and it still smells like mildew

 

You could have junk on your evaporator. You wont believe the crap that gets on those things.

 

What we used to do at a dealership i used to work for was:

Make sure vehicle is at operating temp
Turn heat on full blast and run for 10 minutes.
spray smelly stuff of your choice in vents right under windshield wipers
and then it should be all dried out.

give it a shot.

 

Look at the pictures in this link, specifically the second pic. You'll notice there's a rubber 90 degree elbow that should be on the tube coming out the box pointing down. You may also want to remove the blower motor and remove any gunk that has built up as shown in the write up. Click Link

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