Gym sock smell from AC system.

The AC system smells like gym socks. I know this is because of the bacteria that is inside the vents. I had another car with this problem and I sprayed lysol into the outside air intake vents when it was blowing at full blast and it worked. The question is where is the intake air vent on the NSX?

Thanks

Try BG Frigi-Fresh, spray into the intake vent with the AC on.. Then let the car run for like 20 minutes with the windows closed and the AC on Max. It supposed to kill the mold and eliminate the smell.

I believe there is an intake under the hood up near the windshield, but I don't know if that's the only intake.

Are you sure none of your buddies played a prank on you and stuffed old socks under your dash?? :biggrin:

Yes, the AC air intake is under the black plastic cowling at the base of the windshield on the passenger side. Pull out the push-pins in the rubber weatherstrip to lift it up enough to spray the BG Frigi-Fresh into it with the AC turned on.

BTW, to avoid having the mildew return to the system, always switch the AC to off (push the AC button so the fan blows but the AC is off) for a few minutes at the end of your drive. That dries the moisture off the accumulator.

holy crap, someone has the answers!!! my a/c smells like moldy towels, now i can finally get rid of it!!

Mine smells like cat pee, so add that to the list. :wink:
I sprayed stuff in mine and it didn't do much because it wasn't the right kind. I had them spray it again at Zahntech and it didn't do much either.
It is the worst when I drive it to work, leave it outside in the sun all day, then start the car up to go home.. Yuck. It almost never smells when I first go to leave.

When I was at Song's Tint Masters in LA, they offered an air conditioning service to clean the smell out. I'm not sure what they do but I bet it's easy if you can get the supplies.

You also need to eliminate the root cause - go under the car and make sure the drain is clear. Otherwise, the disinfenctant is merely temporarily cleaning a stagnant pond in your car.

See http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1215284

who carries BG Frigi-Fresh?

Have you tried not storing your gym socks in your A/C vents? I find a gym bag in the trunk works much better. :smile:

If the Frigi-Fresh doesn't work, try a fungicide such as Sani C-N-D or a similar product from an HVAC supplier. You have to be careful with Lysol and other things that, although they kill mold, can damage the coils.

You are most likely shutting your car off with the A/C on "recirc" (recirculation).

Just before you shut it off, turn the A/C to "non-recirc." This will open the damper and allow the mositure to vent out into the atmosphere. If you leave it on recirculation, the mositure evaporates in your car and makes the awful smell.

The "recirc" button is the first on the left side. The "non-recirc" button is second from the left.

This will fix the problem!

Vega$ NSX said:

Have you tried not storing your gym socks in your A/C vents? I find a gym bag in the trunk works much better. :smile:

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Rob's answer is the best one; I had this happen in another car and taking off recirc did the trick. Other than storing your gym socks in the trunk....lol.:biggrin:

i do not use the 'recirc' button at all and my a/c stinks as well. the only thing that takes care of it somewhat is turning the a/c off few minutes before i get home to dry it out.

Has anyone tried removing the blower fan to access and clean the evaporator? I've tried frigi fresh, lysol, and another cleaner from the autoparts store but neither worked.

MaxGeek said:

Has anyone tried removing the blower fan to access and clean the evaporator? I've tried frigi fresh, lysol, and another cleaner from the autoparts store but neither worked.

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I have not and I too have the cat pee smell. I was blaming it on the neighbor's cat but I see now that I may have been mistaken. So, I need to find this drain tube and run some compressed air through it.

Yes you have to remove the blower fan to have any hope of cleaning. Blowing out the drain tube is necessary but insufficient. You can get a/c cool cleaner that does a pretty good job, though I may supplement with some sort of bleach solution next time.

Yes you have to remove the blower fan to have any hope of cleaning. Blowing out the drain tube is necessary but insufficient. You can get a/c cool cleaner that does a pretty good job, though I may supplement with some sort of bleach solution next time.

I use NU- Calgon evap-fresh both in the hvac field and I used it on the car. Very powerful stuff which expands and foams.

.or just rub a little urea grease under your nose and then the AC will be irrelevant....:boxing:

jwmelvin said:

Yes you have to remove the blower fan to have any hope of cleaning. Blowing out the drain tube is necessary but insufficient. You can get a/c cool cleaner that does a pretty good job, though I may supplement with some sort of bleach solution next time.

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So I removed the blower and that was easy. Do I just spray the coils with a foam cleaner now and let it evaporate? Where is the drain hole?

docjohn said:

.or just rub a little urea grease under your nose and then the AC will be irrelevant....:boxing:

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I find that urea grease is spreadable and tastes that of vegemite.:biggrin:

MaxGeek said:

So I removed the blower and that was easy. Do I just spray the coils with a foam cleaner now and let it evaporate? Where is the drain hole?
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Yes you just spray it. That stuff Jinks recommended seems perfect and is just like what I used. The drain hole goes down from in there and you can find the tube under the car if you hunt for it. It's worth finding it first to make sure the foam drips out once it comes off the evaporator.

Visible dirt should be removed from the evaporator with a tooth-brush. I use a desinfectant that is used by hospital staff against bacteria, spores and the like. It's basically alcohol but with aerosol and butan. So you can't drive it right after using it. Just spray it on the everything (edges!) that you'll see in there, also the blower motor. let it do it's job for 5 minutes at least. After that I spray it down with water in a pressurized spray can you use in gardening. This procedure also tests and cleans the drain hole.

Never had a problem after that. Of course, you have to stop A/C 5 minutes before you park the car to get the moisture off the evaporator.

The procedure has to done at the source. If not done locally you can save your money. There are products out there which do more harm than good.

I used a foam ac cleaner I found at home depot. I spray it on religiously and made sure to get all the corners. I did use a tooth brush too, but access is pretty limited. I mainly used it to clean off the larger debris. Then I spray the foam cleaner a second time and used some compressed air to try and blow it through the evap. I cleaned out the blower with disinfectant wipes and took blower wheel out and cleaned it with lysol and qtips.

So far it seemed to do the trick, but the real test will be parking it in the sun and coming back after work. Hopefully it won't smell.