[legendary70]

Hello all.

When I turn my ac on it smells weird....not bad it nasty. Lol

The circulation button is not on. I never have it on. What could it be? The cabin filter? Thx

[arpad_m]

Yes, that's the first thing I'd check. Mine was already pretty dirty with less than 10k miles on the car.

[wwiiavfan]

Yes, you should always turn your AC off but leave the fan running for a few miles before you get home, to dry out the condenser and ducting.

[Jaxcam02]

Originally Posted by wwiiavfan

Yes, you should always turn your AC off but leave the fan running for a few miles before you get home, to dry out the condenser and ducting.

This. I've had 4 recent GM vehicles and they all have that musty smell if I don't air out the condenser. I usually crank up the heat all the way and let it blow for like 30 seconds before getting out the car. I've never understood exactly went the new system does this but my 4th gen never has the the decade plus I've owned it.

[Aragorn]

I have an old truck and it has the exact same problem, in fact in the summer I can be pretty bad. I also run the air without the AC a mile or so before I get home. If you want to escalate the issue look for some videos on YouTube that show you how to run disinfectants like Lysol through the vents at the base of the hood. By the way if you plan on replacing the cabin air filter get a couple pry bars ready. There are threads and videos on that procedure also.

[95 imp]

Not to be an ass and point the finger.... Just helping people learn...

FWIW.... The condenser sits in front of the radiator. The evaporator is the cabin.

[F_Two]

Originally Posted by wwiiavfan

Yes, you should always turn your AC off but leave the fan running for a few miles before you get home, to dry out the condenser and ducting.

I third this.

[legendary70]

thank you all. Yeah I will change out the filter tomorrow. For sure i will use the fan method.

[ste1n]

is there a filter option that's better than OEM AcDelco CF185 filter? This K&N filter is $40. Does it provide anything extra over OEM one?

[breakskeet]

Originally Posted by wwiiavfan

Yes, you should always turn your AC off but leave the fan running for a few miles before you get home, to dry out the condenser and ducting.

You can also have your dealer turn on the afterblower feature of your A/C. After you park your car the HVAC fan will activate and blow air to dry the evaporator. This feature is not activated from the factory. It must be activated after delivery with a TechII tool.

From the Camaro Service manual:

[vtirocz]

Originally Posted by breakskeet

You can also have your dealer turn on the afterblower feature of your A/C. After you park your car the HVAC fan will activate and blow air to dry the evaporator. This feature is not activated from the factory. It must be activated after delivery with a TechII tool.

From the Camaro Service manual:

That's interesting. Thanks for posting. I wonder how much it would cost to have this enabled after the bumper to bumper warranty has run out.

[WhyUMad1LE]

I had the same problem within a few months of ownership so I went to my mechanic and they enabled it for free. Haven’t had any smell since then.

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by breakskeet

You can also have your dealer turn on the afterblower feature of your A/C. After you park your car the HVAC fan will activate and blow air to dry the evaporator. This feature is not activated from the factory. It must be activated after delivery with a TechII tool.

From the Camaro Service manual:

^^^^^This. When my wife and I bought our '14 Impala we were so worried that we had bought a lemon because after we got it home we smelled the musty smell from the A/C. Luckily one of the first threads when I pulled up the Impala forum was the "rotten egg" smell from the A/C. They said exactly what breakskeet said to do and we haven't smelled anything bad since.

Funny enough, the salesman that sold us the car called a couple weeks later asking us how we liked our car. Nice courtesy call as good salesmen typically do it seems. I told him about the smell and he seemed to know about it (we wondered why there was so much air freshener in the car without a cigarette smell ). I told him we fixed it though and he seemed surprised. I told him it was super simple and said what was done. You could hear his frustration on the other side of the phone, even though he kept his composure pretty well because he knew he could have sold the car for $3,000-$4,000 more than what he sold it to us for. Too bad! That's what you get for not disclosing everything.

[breakskeet]

The afterblower really works! I'm glad others have had the same results. I have it enabled on all my cars during the PDI before I even take them home