stinky air conditioning in car....gross!

[mellyonion]

urrrrrggghh! its horrid!
air con being used in car for the first time in about 10 months! it smells really damp, like stinky socks.....any idea how i can get rid of the smell? its lingering like mad.....

have left windows etc open, but as soon asi turn a/c on again, its back....

ta very much!

Apparently if you don't use it for ages, it becomes mouldy inside. We were advised to use the air conditioning in the winter occasionally to stop it going mouldy.
Not sure what you can do about it but all those horrible mould spores coming in through the vents is not good for your chest. COnsider having a new one put in.

even more UUUURRRRGGGHHH! grossssss!
thanks for that! lol.

new one is not an option!
maybe i could leave the car running with the roof and windows open on the drive to clear it out....

would that work?

You could get the air con serviced, there are lots of mobile services where they come to you - they can chemically treat the evaporator which is where the bacteria are growing.

Once it's treated, it will last a while (depending on product), or you can switch the air con off a mile or so before you reach your destination, to let the evaporator dry out. Some cars (recent Fords) have a system where the fan continues to blow on the evaporator after the car is switched off, to avoid this problem.