Weird smell from Air Conditioner

[chenny]

Hi everyone,
I've got a manual 09 Civic and I've noticed that when the air conditioner is on and during acceleration at around 3500rpm a weird smell comes out of the vents, but right after I shift up the smell disappears until it reaches 3500rpm again.

I've read through 3 threads on problems and smells from air conditioners and I think my problem might be different. I read through these 3 threads.
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4541
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108518
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70274

I'm fairly sure it's not the catalytic converter as the car is was about a month old when I first noticed the smell. And we've tried different fuels since then and the smell is still there. It kind of smells sour but burnt and its not like rotten eggs. I'm not too sure what burnt clutch smells like so I'm not sure if its that.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks.

[insanelin]

air filter is an option nowadays so we got to buy one. The FDs in singapore are also having the same problem.

I also experience this foul smell from time to time but i m still looking for cheaper alternatives than buying 1 that cost 90 bucks from honda.

hope this helps


cheers

[chenny]

thanks insanelin. i thought i was the only one with that smell.
yeah, i wouldn't want to be forking out 90 just for a filter.
do you know if normal air conditioner filters will work?

[Latino CRX]

my wifes car is the same we had to pull the dash out and clean it with anti-bactirior cleaner and shit .. even once we week we spray the anti-bactirior stuffed in the vents just to make sure ..

the smells gone now.. :)

[chenny]

hmmm...i'm tempted to give that a go, but when i pull stuff apart and try putting it together, its never the same. but i'll try it if i can't get hold of an air filter. thanks for the suggestion.

[Latino CRX]

no probs .. if i can find the anti-bactirior spray i will post a pic of it to show ya cause it was made for this type of problem :) just got find wer i put it now :p

[chenny]

that'll be really helpful, thanks =)

[Latino CRX]

heres a link for ya ..

http://www.airsept.com/index.php?loadmod=ac

[chenny]

where abouts can i get this from here?

[Latino CRX]

umm i went to autobarn to grab somethin similiar to this .. cause i went in asking for this and so i had to explain wat i was doin and needed it for then they gave me somethin similiar .. im still tryin to look for wat i used .. but it does work

[chenny]

ahhh alright, i'll check it out. did you just spray it on or washed everything with it?

[Latino CRX]

yeh i didnt really need to fully take dash out but i did anyways just to clean the airbox's and shit aswell cause wat it is its a build up of crap which turns into mould which clogs up ur drain pipes and shit ..

so yeh cleaned everythin and sprayed in the box's and in the vents and stuff went freakn nuts with it just to make sure we wont get that piss smell back :p

[chenny]

hahaha, thanks for your help. i'll give it a go =)

[Fly-Rice]

What does it smell like??

Im imagining an asian supermarket on a hot summers day..

[Latino CRX]

in my wifes car smelt like someone took a piss in the airbox :p

[chenny]

yeah a little bit like an asian market, but not that extreme. its more closer to Latino CRX's description. its annoying as hell though.

[vlixcool]

get mcguire odor eliminator and spray in on the ventilation near wiper.

[tony1234]

To stop the smell coming back turn the aircon off and leave the fan running approx.a minute before you turn the engine off.If you do that every time the pissy smell shouldn't come back.

[Latino CRX]

yeh ive been told this aswell but if u have mould build up somewer in ur airvents and airbox's, u should clean it out due to either way ur still suckin up bacteria's up ur nose ..

mould will just keep on buildin up if not cleaned...

[chenny]

get mcguire odor eliminator and spray in on the ventilation near wiper.

the ventilation for defogging the windscreen?


To stop the smell coming back turn the aircon off and leave the fan running approx.a minute before you turn the engine off.If you do that every time the pissy smell shouldn't come back.

we do that everytime we use the air con, but the smell is different and when the car is idling or not accelerating the smell isn't there.

[vlixcool]

if you go ouside the car, near your wiper you will see couples of holes along the plastic cover. just spray on the holes. and it should be last for 3-4 months

[6thgear]

i remember honda service dept used to have an air con cleaning service. $99 or something to clean out the system...not sure if they still got though...