Limelight

In my situation, the foul odour I smell is when my AC is turned OFF! The only way to eliminate the smell is to turn the AC ON.

I would have thought that having fresh air coming through my vents would at worst smell like outside air - but all dealer vent treatments and new filters have not fixed the problem - nor has completely disassembling my dash to replace the entire HVAC unit. I know you're a fan of Wurth but not even God himself can fix my car it seems.

bigred123

My parts manager has seen this issue when people leave the fresh air vents open and go through the car wash. Given mine was a certified used car - I don't know if this was done to my car before me. I tend to leave the car on "Auto" all the time - I did that with my TLs, Pilot, MDX and every other car I've had with no issues before the RLX.

Fabvsix

I've never driven my rides thru a car wash... I always hand wash and wax in my driveway.... 100% Zaino used since day one bought new. I can't speak to that excuse your service folks told you. That is a first I've ever heard....

Bellanova

Yet again this summer I am coming across the problem of a stinky A/C in my '16 Sport Hybrid Adv! I dealt with this issue at my local dealer last summer with no real solution aside from the onset of winter, but after a month of regular A/C use this summer, the problem has recurred. To be more specific, the mildew (gym sock) odor which comes through the vents is most noticeable after the A/C has been running and I've turned it off to run ventilation of outside air usually in the evening as the outside temps cool down. The car has been "bombed" twice by the service manager this summer -- some potent air freshener that's run through the system overnight. Unfortunately, after a day, the smell is immediately noticeable. It's really almost embarrassing if a have a passenger other than my wife or son.

With my limited time, I just call Acura Client Relations to escalate the case since the dealer doesn't really exhibit any genuine knowledge or ability to remedy the problem. I know Limelight has come across this issue, but has anyone else dealt with this issue?

hondamore

I don't mean to be flippant, but the solution may be to leave the system in AUTO and no longer manually turn the A/C off in the evenings.

There is little advantage to turning off the A/C since the system already senses the outdoor temperature and will only turn on the A/C if the temperature of the outside air requires cooling prior to entering the cabin to achieve the desired temperature. There is also the humidity consideration to leaving the system in AUTO since it will keep the inside of the car at a more comfortable humidity level. A car at 72 degrees with high humidity levels will be less comfortable than a car at 72 with lower humidity levels and the A/C is the mechanism by which the humidity is being removed.

The Sport Hybrid's A/C is electrical and not run off the ICE, so your mileage is not going to be diminished by having the A/C cycle on and off with the system in AUTO mode, so I fail to see a benefit of going through the trouble to manually turn off the A/C in the evenings.

Just my two cents.

neuronbob

Again, I will post this thread on Würth air cleaner. I used it twice during my RLX lease. It not only got rid of the musty smell, it never came back. I always used Auto mode. I changed the air filter every six months. I was happy!

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...-klima-932563/

bigred123

Limelight fixed his problem by trading in his 2014 P-AWS for an SH-AWD 2016 model. I had a similar issue and the dealer did 3 things: (1) changed the air filter, (2) sprayed the air conditioning condenser (I think? The coil-y thing!) with a white foam, and (3) did a spray like Wurth through the main vent on the outside. They did that in the winter and although the smell isn't completely gone it is much better. I have a car air-freshner I put in the back vent that also helps. It's definitely WAY better than what it was but not 100% perfect. I also keep my system on 100% auto.

There are a few of us here that have the problem so please keep posting everyone with possible solutions to resolve completely!

mk5

Necro bump. My 2014 has had a smell since I got it. It gets worse in the summer. I’m in Texas and the car is garaged most of the time. Regularly replace the cabin filter.

I thought it was smoke smell but my wife and kids say it is an “old man” smell. Purchased an ozone machine that worked at first, but smell kept coming back.

Glad I saw this thread. I am going to try the Wurth stuff and follow the directions. Crossing my fingers this actually works.

Bellanova

I was frustrated with this same issue for the first two years of ownership with little resolution from the dealership. They did make multiple attempts to address the problem, but it would eventually develop after a few days of driving. And then... it suddenly stopped altogether. I'm now in the eighth year of ownership of my '16 Sport Hybrid, and I have not witnessed the issue for years. At some point, Acura switched to a charcoal-laden cabin filter, and whether that made the difference or the fact that the car is now 8 years old, the issue seems to have resolved itself. I even switched back to a regular "white" filter this summer with all of the alleged smoke coming from Canada, and I never noted foul smell. The dealership had to order the charcoal filter and I didn't want to wait, and I haven't bothered to switch back to it yet...

Admittedly, I no longer drive much without the A/C unit engaged as I used to... even if I have the windows or moonroof open. Since the compressor is electrically-driven as opposed to parasitically mooching from the engine, I seldom bother to disengage it.

I would check which filter you have -- the charcoal ones are distinctly gray and almost appear "dirty". Try an "air bomb" freshener, switch to the charcoal filter, and see if that remedies the issue. Would love to hear any feedback and experience!