Today, on my drive home from work, I noticed that my AC smells pretty bad. Is there anything I can do about this or figure out how to isolate the problem? Admittedly, I don't know much (read: anything) about what's under the hood.

Except for the chemistry... It's the mechanics I'm clueless about.

 

Get yourself a can of Lysol spray in whatever boutique scent turns you on. Open the hood. Start the car and set the A/C to full auto without recirc. The intake vents are just below the wiper blades heading into the engine compartment. Should be obvious.
Spray the Lysol into the vents. Should notice the scent being "pumped" into the car. You could use the whole can but say half should do. Don't worry the smell won't linger and it hopefully will remove the ,I'll assume since you didn't mention it, musty odor.
You might also want to change the cabin air filter. A DIY job, search the forum for the details.
Also, might help in the future if you were a bit more discriptive of your problem and let us know what year, tl, tls, etc. yo might have.
Hope this helps

 

Fuck..i paid the dealer $20 to do that ! I am an idiot!

 

Do you run your car with AC and Recirculate a lot?

I heard (have not tried) that running the AC with the heater on hot, will help to remove the dampness out of the car.

try that, and let me know if it helps.

 

Interesting, I never thought of that. Is that how the car dealerships get the "new car smell" infused in the car? I guess to keep the car smelling like that, you would have to do it about once a month or so?

Now, do the front intake vents go to all the air outlets in the car? Dash, side, under, and rear? Also, I'll take out the air filter and give it a whiff. I just hope it doesn't kill me.

Also, sorry I didn't post my car, I don't know where my head was. I'm generally pretty good about stuff like that.
Internally Unmodified Acura 2001 3.2TL
I picked it up used and the previous owner had thrown on the underbody kit and the spoiler, but didn't touch the inside or under the hood, as far as I can tell.

We all have moments like that, man. That's one expensive ass can of Lysol!

Well, I generally keep the car's AC in full auto mode, so I haven't paid much attention to the recirculate status. I will try today, though.

It's pretty chilly out there today, I'll give the heat thing a shot as well.

 

Just some further info on this subject at this link from the forum. http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...bin+air+filter
As far as I know the intake in the front is the only source of fresh air for all the vents.

 

I would recommend using something other than Lysol. I've gone the lysol route, but it doesn't seems to last very long. It doesn't kill the mildew, and in a few months in a Florida summer it's back.

I found this product, and this product, and think I might try one of them next time (although I don't know what the difference is between the two yet). They're from Florida so I know they know a thing or two about automotive mildew.

 

i got rid of my musky air problem w/out lysol. just make sure you close your a/c+recir. and also open a window b4 you fart inside the car. that helps a whole lot!

 

I bought a can of the "Automotive Air Conditioner Odor Treatment." The other stuff seems to be for surface areas.

I'l let you guys know how it goes.

Oh - and I'll also try opening my windows when I fart as well!

 

http://www.fram.com/tech/CF8603Installation.pdf

 

This is a common problem with the S2000's also, all you need to do is replace the micron filter for the heat/ac. It will be under the hood most likely, and instructions should be in the manual.