I have the same exact foul gross discusting smell in my wifes 2008 outlander, at first I thaught maybe she left a baby bottle under the seat, it happens alot with the a/c on and goes away after about 5 mins, but man it is the longest five minutes of your life, now it starts when the heat is on, we only have about 25000 km on it and wanna bring it back to the dealer but dont wanna get stuck with a huge bill, i have also changed the cabin air filter and no change,
any info would be greatly appreciated

 

Every AC system I know if in a modern vehicle has a catch tray under the evaporator (the radiator-like unit that gets cold and air flows over it) to catch condensing humidity from the air as it cools. This catch tray has a drain hose to empty any accumulation under the vehicle. It's possible that the tray is staying wet and smelling or the hose is plugged and accumulated water isn't draining. Either the hose needs to be cleared out or you should make sure you turn off the AC (or turn the airflow away from the windshield as this runs your AC system to dry out the air) for the last 5 minutes before you turn the car off allowing the tray to dry out. Finding the catch tray and cleaning it with bleach should also work wonders.

 

I agree with TCP. I was riding in a buddy's jeep years ago and the same thing was happening. I asked my dad about it and he said that sometimes condensation/water will pool in the vents or air conditioning system and will then grow bacteria creating a really nasty smell. I think you'll have to dig in and clean it out. Once found, bleach it...or sell it this winter.

 

Hi,

I was wondering what ended up happening to your vehicle? I have a similar problem with my 2009 lancer, and i am taking my car to the dealership this coming week.

 

has anyone figured out where this smell is coming from, I took the wiper cowl off and the cabin air filter and washed the inlet air system with javax and the smell came back within a week, i found that the drains on each side of the fenders were plugged, but i am thinking this smell is coming from the condenser or air conditioning. has anyone figured out the cause and the fix, our local dealer told me that he never heard of this problem before and is sure it is not under warranty, is there any tsb out there on this, also does anyone have a diagram showing where the condenser drain is. thanks for the help

 

I took my Lancer 2009 to the dealer ship beacuse of the bad/foul smell, they said that i have mold in my air vents and they cannot do anything for me. But spay some enzyme that will kill and emlimiate the odour, but its not 100% guarnteed to kill the mold.

 

You might have mold, take it to another dealership they might be able to help you. If you do have mold its not under warranty. Even if you got the diamond care.

 

Had the same problem twice and both times it's the cabin air filter that's moldy according to the service shop. Wonder if it's a bad design, do not have this problem with cars of other make.

 

This is exactly what I have in my '07 Outie. It only appears when running the A/C. The more I run the A/C the less the odor appears, and recently, it seems to have disappeared. I also toggle the fresh air, which has helped somewhat. I will look into the deodorizing kit.

 

had a baaaad odor problem with another vehicle, caravan to be specific which is very prone to mold buildup in the vents due to poor design. I was told I need to bring it in so they can rip it apart to clean it out. I took a spray bottle of lysol, located the ports where the air gets sucked IN for recirculation (at the bottom of the console), turned the fan on max and sprayed at the air INLET. while doing this, I went through all the channels like defrost, head, feet, in between and kept the ac ON. The suction carries the lysol throughout the air system. the condensation that builds up inside the ac portion (whatever it's called) allows for the lysol to stick there and mix with the water that has been pooling there. the lysol will kill the bacteria and mold that has been germinating. I sprayed like half the bottle and let it alone. the next day, I got less than half of the original foul odor, so I did it again, the smell has never returned. in the case of the outlander, not sure if there is a cabin filter, but I would take it out before doing the above. if you can remove your cabin filter, I would spray the lysol IN the place where the filter was with the fan running. you'll get the smell of excessive lysol stuck in your seats if you don't keep the doors open. the lysol that sticks to the walls of your ducts will kill whatever is growing there. if there is excessive lysol odor coming through your vents, turn the fan down a bit. good luck