Honda Car Forum

Always have the air set to outside air, not to recirculated
air.

After using the air conditioner, several blocks or a couple
of minutes before you shut off the engine, turn off the AC
but continue to leave the fan on, to remove moisture from
inside the unit.

Shutting the AC down "wet" allows the smell to develop
(things grow in there).

Following this routine for a few weeks may just solve your
problem.

-- Don

rusty cranbrook wrote:
>
> I bought a used 98 Accord (Torneo actually) for use overseas that came
> from Japan. I'd never even heard of musty smelling vents before or I
> would have checked, but this thing really stinks. It has about 50k km
> on it. Plain air from the outside is pretty bad, but with the A/C on
> it's really terrible. Wish I'd never bought the thing...
>
> Anyways, a car cleaning guy used one of those vent cleaning sprays in
> it and it was *a little* better for a week or two. But how can I
> really fix this thing? I've read about shutting off the ac a mile or
> two before stopping; lysol; etc. but those fixes are not likely to be
> up to my needs. Can a Honda dealer really fix this issue? Or should I
> take it to an AC specialist? Just thinking of the smell makes me
> ill...

I'll second this method... but I put the unit in recirc before turning
off the A/C and letting the fan run. It's very humid where I live and
bringing in all that moist air won't help the coil while you're trying
to warm it up. Then again, I rarely set it to outside air to begin with.

Don Enderton wrote:
> Always have the air set to outside air, not to recirculated
> air.
>
> After using the air conditioner, several blocks or a couple
> of minutes before you shut off the engine, turn off the AC
> but continue to leave the fan on, to remove moisture from
> inside the unit.
>
> Shutting the AC down "wet" allows the smell to develop
> (things grow in there).
>
> Following this routine for a few weeks may just solve your
> problem.
>
> -- Don
>
> rusty cranbrook wrote:
>
>>I bought a used 98 Accord (Torneo actually) for use overseas that came
>>from Japan. I'd never even heard of musty smelling vents before or I
>>would have checked, but this thing really stinks. It has about 50k km
>>on it. Plain air from the outside is pretty bad, but with the A/C on
>>it's really terrible. Wish I'd never bought the thing...
>>
>>Anyways, a car cleaning guy used one of those vent cleaning sprays in
>>it and it was *a little* better for a week or two. But how can I
>>really fix this thing? I've read about shutting off the ac a mile or
>>two before stopping; lysol; etc. but those fixes are not likely to be
>>up to my needs. Can a Honda dealer really fix this issue? Or should I
>>take it to an AC specialist? Just thinking of the smell makes me
>>ill...
>