Check your cabin filter. If that doesn't do it, you may have some standing water in there somewhere. Ford's are notorious for that.
weird smell when the air is on??
ok whenever i get in my car whether its been running for a while or just got started the air smells funny, its not a gas or coolant smell ( i dont think im not too sure what coolant smells like). it has like a sort of musty or like the air has been sitting in a hot damp chamber for a few hours but the smell doesnt go away. do i need a new filter or something? does anyone know what's wrong with it??? oh and the smell is NOT present when i turn air conditioning on it is only when it is straight air. thanks for the help
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alrighty thanks for the tip thats what i assumed but i just wanted to get some advice before i went and started doing stuff just off my own hunch
The filter is pretty easy to replace. It's under the plastic cowl between the engine bay and the windshield. Cabin air filter part # is 4R3Z19N619AA.alrighty thanks for the tip thats what i assumed but i just wanted to get some advice before i went and started doing stuff just off my own hunch
wow thanks, saved me some time
I've had a couple of cars with rubber valves for draining the cowl area. The valves can get plugged up if you park where a lot of leaves, blossoms, seeds fall off trees onto your car. If the water doesn't drain out pretty quickly it can harbor and nurture molds, definitely a source for "musty" odors. Any stagnant moisture can grow that stuff, whether it be in some system passage or your carpets.
What's certain to kill most molds is chlorine bleach. Probably don't want to be putting that in your cowl intakes or carpets.
What has worked for me on three cars, including this Mustang that didn't have its air conditioning running for a long time and put out a musty smell, is Lysol Spray in a pressurized can. Start the engine, turn on the fan full blast, and spray that Lysol into the cowl heater/air intake. Give it two treatments a few hours apart, and if your wildlife is like mine was, all odors will be gone. Never to return. I'm not fond of the Lysol odor, but it does dissipate relatively quickly, and takes the other odors with it.
A little cheaper and easier than replacing the cabin air filter, and even doing that may not get rid of odor-originators dug in otherwhere in the system. I guess the ideal would be to do both: change the filter and fumigate the system.
What's certain to kill most molds is chlorine bleach. Probably don't want to be putting that in your cowl intakes or carpets.
What has worked for me on three cars, including this Mustang that didn't have its air conditioning running for a long time and put out a musty smell, is Lysol Spray in a pressurized can. Start the engine, turn on the fan full blast, and spray that Lysol into the cowl heater/air intake. Give it two treatments a few hours apart, and if your wildlife is like mine was, all odors will be gone. Never to return. I'm not fond of the Lysol odor, but it does dissipate relatively quickly, and takes the other odors with it.
A little cheaper and easier than replacing the cabin air filter, and even doing that may not get rid of odor-originators dug in otherwhere in the system. I guess the ideal would be to do both: change the filter and fumigate the system.
That's crazy, it's completely opposite of mine. Mine only smells when I turn ON the A/c and not when it's off.
I think I see the problem:That's crazy, it's completely opposite of mine. Mine only smells when I turn ON the A/c and not when it's off.
" ... this Mustang that didn't have its air conditioning running for a long time and put out a musty smell ... "
I meant to say, "It put out a musty smell when turned on after not having been used or a long time".
Sorry.
Just mold/mildew with the AC unit. Would turning the heater on full blast dry out any water and kill whatever causing the smell?
I believe the mold/mildew would more likely be upstream from where the air gets heated. Drying out the parts where the growths are may help, but it doesn't necessarily kill or eliminate them. Molds are very tenacious beings. Many times they'll come to life with a little moisture, even after having been dry for quite a while.Just mold/mildew with the AC unit. Would turning the heater on full blast dry out any water and kill whatever causing the smell?
My A/C smells like a new car when I turn it on, even after 65,000 miles. 
The A/C in my truck smells like dirt though... :headscratch:
The A/C in my truck smells like dirt though... :headscratch:
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