It's funny you say that. I too get a nasty odour when I turn on the A/C. Actually I just ordered a new cabin air filter for the stealership. $60CDN can you believe that... Initially I used fabreze anti-Baterial but the odour came back after awhile. I think it's mould. I heard too much mould exposure is bad for you. It can cause everything from ear infections to cold symptoms. Sorry to be such a downer guys, but it's probably true. If you change your Cabin Filter I hear Fram makes one for cheap. OEM part is pricy.

 

yup. its really bad and I couldnt figure out what was going on. cold winter means defog use which = a/c on...

and its one of those problems where if you take it to the dealers its not there, but the moment you pull off the service bay its there again [:@]

anyway, the fix is worth the price. no one needs to suffer through that nasty smell [:'(]

 

lolz...once you get done using your a.c., try to leave at least the fan on for couple of minutes. this will flush all freon residue out of your a.c. chambers.

 

Just get one of those air fresh clips...and put it on the vent.

 

Roll down the windows... when its really cold the smell wont be as bad as frezzing your *** off.

 

You guys got this all wrong (sorta) though you are leaning in the right direction. 1st of all, the intake air cleaner that goes to the ENGINE has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH THE AIR INSIDE THE CABIN. Lets just get that straight right now. Everything that goes into the engine intake is used for combustion only so changing the engine air filter won't do you any good if your trying to get rid of the HVAC smell PERIOD. Secondly, the AC system is a completely sealed unit. The Freon inside of this sealed system also has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STINK. There is no "Flushing out the freon" as far as trying to prevent HVAC stink.
For the air that enters the cabin- the fresh air intake (located around the wiper cowl) for the HVAC unit does have it's own seperate filter (HEPA). (Again- this is seperate from the Engine Air Filter) This filter CAN get pretty foul considering all of the stuff that can drop down in there and all of the dust and pollutants in the enviroment. When dirty, it CAN contribute to the foul smell coming through the air vents. All air blowing through the HVAC goes through this HEPA FILTER therefore, if you have a foul filter- the air passing through it will smell foul.
I say "contribute" because that is not the ONLY source of stink when it comes to the HVAC unit. If you replace the HEPA filter, yet you still have the "stink" problem. Your next problem lies in the AC Evaporator. The AC evaporator- which removes heat from the air that passes through it, develops moisture and condensation in the process. This is why you have that water dripping from underneath your vehicle when the AC is running for a long time ( some of you may notice). Not all of the moisture that developes around the evaporator will drip off. The AC evaporator fins is similar to those found on the vehicle radiator. It is located in the HVAC unit and ALL air blown out of the vents passes through it first with the AC on or off or regardless if its in "Fresh Air" mode or in "Recirc". ONce all of the moisture develope and collects in the fins of the evaporator- it becomes a haven and breeding ground for bacteria and mold. Eventually the bacteria and mold colony will pass on its stench to all the air that passes through it.
What is the fix? There are AC treatments AC shops, or the dealer can do. They basically heat the evaporator fins(using the hot air through the HVAC unit) then spray it with the bacteria treatment which will sorta "bake" onto the fins of the evaporator effectively killing whatever bacteria/mold that formed while preventing future growth. That will eliminate the Evaporators contribution to the stink problem. Leaving the fan running (with the AC off) after prolonged use of the AC system is simply to dry the evaportor coils BEFORE a bacteria colony can form. I'd recommend doing this after any prolonged AC usage even after having had the treatment performed. For a majority of you, you may need to have BOTH ITEMS taken care of to eliminate all stink from the HVAC unit. Some of you may need to do one or the other.

Good Luck!

Joel, CA
Diamond Star Technician

NOTE: Keep in mind that when the **** is set to either of the DEFROST positions, the AC is automatically switched on by default whether you like it or not. With that being said, keeping your vents in the defrost position with the fan on can also contribute to a build up of bacteria and mold in the HVAC unit.

 

Got mold?

 

finally a non biased response LOL

hmmm now to find an AC shop. my mitsu service department needs to get better at customer service or I need to find a beter mitsu service. what ever it is, I'll be doing some driving tomorrow

 

I do give VERY NON BIASED opinions- trust me, i'm here to help. I've worked for Mitsubishi from 1997 to 2005 and am a certified Diamond Star Technician. On top of that, i own 3 Mitsubishi products. I only chime into topics in which i have a definate answer (such as this), or a highly educated guess on that matter. There is a TSB regarding foul AC smell- if your still within the 3/36 basic warranty, you can have it done for free. Good luck!

Joel, CA

 

Now that's a good tip with the warranty.....