Mine smells bad when I blend the heater to 50/50. Smells worse after sitting ouside after the rains. Has smelled for 20K miles. Dealer could not find anything wrong. Yes, the filter has been changed several times.

Is there a drain that could be pluged ??? I am stumped.

Have several used cars and NEVER, EVER had a heat/cold smell EVER !!

TIA

Are you using your climate system in the Recirulate Mode alot?
If so this might be the cause of your problem.
Does it smell like piss or stinky sweat socks?

Smells worse in recirulate............

Mine smells bad when I blend the heater to 50/50. Smells worse after sitting ouside after the rains. Has smelled for 20K miles. Dealer could not find anything wrong. Yes, the filter has been changed several times.

Is there a drain that could be pluged ??? I am stumped.

Have several used cars and NEVER, EVER had a heat/cold smell EVER !!

TIA

Describe the smell. If it is a weird salty like smell, it could be the coolant. If it smells like rotten eggs, or like flatulence, it could just be the catalytic converter burn-off of bad gas.

Smells like mold or water sitting stagnate. I am allergic to whatever ever it smells like.

More so when it mixed 50/50 on the temperature dial, so know the A/C is the problem.

If it smells like mold - it's probably mold. Your RL probably was leaking water or something.... and the mold grew...

I'm not really sure how to go about getting rid of it.


HT

Smells like mold or water sitting stagnate. I am allergic to whatever ever it smells like.

More so when it mixed 50/50 on the temperature dial, so know the A/C is the problem.

Shortly after we purchased our 2000 Accord EX, the A/C started smelling like mildew. The dealer found a dead field mouse and mold in the ducts. At the time, I always used the recirculate mode due to the high heat. The dealer removed the dead mouse and removed the ducting and cleaned it. The dealer also explained that when using the A/C, that I should run it with the outside air setting on in order to give any water condensation a chance to evaporate before shutting the car off. No smells ever since. Funny thing is, I never associated the smell with a dead animal :o

I have a smell too at times. Mine seems to occur more when I want to run the fan with the a/c off. My dealer has a spray I use under the hood in the area right under the windshield. This helps get rid of the spray, but it seems to be temporary because the smell reoccurs every few months and I re-spray.

If you constantly use the climate control with the A/C off, moisture buildup can cause mold growth. Run the A/C several times per month, even in the winter. That will help prevent mold growth. It could also be a clogged condensate drain tube.

Once it's there, though, it can be tough to get rid of it.

I remember this problem on MotorWeek TV show some years back.
It can come from having the A/C or system in the Recirulate position alot.
It also can happen if you turn the car off in the REC position or having the system in the high setting & not adjusting to a lower setting to let it dry out.
It can also come from going thru a drive thru car wash with the system in REC mode. You could have a blocked evap drain or something like that.
Someone can help me out with the correct term on this. But the fix was to get a strong disinfectant spray. This was not Lysol but stronger stuff you can buy at the auto stores that will kill mold ,mildew & fungus. You the follow the instructions on the can as to what to do. I do recall make sure it has a long hose to get down in the parts . But I think you can spray stuff also in the vents . I have also read that you could use can spray Lysol down inthe vents & run the system on high for a few miles then switch to REC & lower setting for a few more miles. But see what the Auto stores have for this problem. Its been awhile sinc e I saw this. I use to have a problem with my 90 Accord . I was using the REC position & shutting the car off with it set in that position at start up it was the bad ordor. I learned I was using it the wrong way. After I sprayed Lysol in the vents I had no more problems. Yours may be the mold way down in there that needs the stronger stuff for the fix.

Um ok. Thanks for all the help.

BUT !?

Why does this Honda only have THIS issue ?? In my 40 years on this dang planet i have never seen this..........

Heck my 1978 Ford truck and 97 Mustang smell good still...........:rolleyes:


More and more disappointed with this water leaker........:(

Why does this Honda only have THIS issue ?? In my 40 years on this dang planet i have never seen this..........
Honda is not alone with this issue. I have had other cars/trucks with the same problem yet I have not had it with the RL.
Here is an article from the Internet:

Correcting Foul Odors From A/C Vents:A musty or moldy smell from the discharge vents is a common problem on vehicles with air conditioning. More than unpleasant and annoying, it can also trigger allergic reactions. This problem occurs when condensation (water) from the evaporator collects on the evaporator fins and also when the water settles in the bottom of the evaporator housing. The water attracts dirt from the air, and together, along with the dark location, they serve as the perfect breeding ground for mold. Although the water should drain from the evaporator housing through a drain tube that passes through the floorboard and outside the car, this drain tube can plug with debris and cause a backup of water into the evaporator housing. Sometimes the water spills over into the vehicle's interior. It all depends on the severity of the blockage. Even with proper drainage, there is still enough condensation present on the evaporator fins and within the evaporator case to enable mold growth.
You can combat mold (and odor) by attacking the problem at its source. First, make sure the evaporator drain tube flows properly. With the A/C system operating, you should see a discharge of water from the tube below your car. However, even if there is drainage, it may not be sufficient as the tube could be partially restricted, causing a back-up into the evaporator case. You will find the tube located directly below the heating/air conditioning case, where it passes through the floorboard to the outside. The tube is made out of a flexible rubber material. Inspect the tube closely from underneath and look and feel for debris in the end. Sometimes, mud and other road debris may collect on the end of the tube and impair proper flow. Clean the tube as needed to restore proper flow.
The next step is to treat the mold itself (the heart of the problem). To do this, you treat the evaporator core with an anti-microbial chemical that attacks and kills the mold. You can do this with some products by spraying them into the A/C vents and air intake. Others require that you apply them directly to the evaporator core itself with a special applicator wand or nozzle. In extreme cases, the evaporator may need to be removed for cleaning, but this is rare and best left for professional service technicians.
The most important thing is to make sure you use a chemical that actually kills the mold and follow the directions exactly for that product. Simply treating the problem with a deodorizer will only mask the odor for the short term. For best results, the evaporator should be treated annually. Here are a few other tips that may help the mold problem from reoccurring. First, turn off the A/C, then switch the blower to the high setting, and move the air control (if applicable; often used on Japanese imports) to the fresh (outside) air mode. Doing this for about the last 10 minutes of operation can help dry the evaporator and case, helping to curb the breeding ground for mold. Running the system normally in the fresh air mode, rather than the recirculation mode, may also help to reduce the chances of mold formation. Finally, if your car has a cabin filter, make sure it's changed on a regular basis (usually every 15,000 miles). Excessive dirt entering the evaporator case gives mold extra "food."

Some of GM's offerings - Corvettes, some Cadillacs, and some Volvos feature an "afterblow" feature that can be enabled with the Tech II scan tool. They also released a TSB a few years ago concerning an afterblow module that could be added to other GM products that would run the blower for 5 minutes after the ignition had been turned off for 50 minutes and the a/c was used for at least 4 minutes. Here's a link to one currently on eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GM-Delayed-Blower-Fan-Contorl-Moduel-BOC-25533406_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2e l1247QQcategoryZ33545QQihZ009QQitemZ190192899865QQ rdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

I can't remember the company who made the device for GM, but from what I remember you could add it to most any vehicle pretty easily.

Mine smells bad when I blend the heater to 50/50. Smells worse after sitting ouside after the rains. Has smelled for 20K miles. Dealer could not find anything wrong. Yes, the filter has been changed several times.

Is there a drain that could be pluged ??? I am stumped.

Have several used cars and NEVER, EVER had a heat/cold smell EVER !!

TIA

When did you change your cabin filter last? I know you said it has been changed, but when you changed it did you look for any build up of moisture?

I run several ionizers once a month to purify the RL duct system along with using an activated charcoal closet deodorizer (purchased at Walmart in the house ware department)

I will just deal with it. Cabin filter get changed every 6 months (Fram)

I try to run the A/C more often to clear it out in non circulation mode.


Thanks for all the suggestions/help.

FYI

Grave shift is killing me............:eek:


TSgt D

I will just deal with it. Cabin filter get changed every 6 months (Fram)

I try to run the A/C more often to clear it out in non circulation mode.


Thanks for all the suggestions/help.

FYI

Grave shift is killing me............:eek:


TSgt D

I also switched to the MicronAir filter.

Honda is not alone with this issue. I have had other cars/trucks with the same problem yet I have not had it with the RL.
Here is an article from the Internet:

Correcting Foul Odors From A/C Vents:A musty or moldy smell from the discharge vents is a common problem on vehicles with air conditioning. More than unpleasant and annoying, it can also trigger allergic reactions. This problem occurs when condensation (water) from the evaporator collects on the evaporator fins and also when the water settles in the bottom of the evaporator housing. The water attracts dirt from the air, and together, along with the dark location, they serve as the perfect breeding ground for mold. Although the water should drain from the evaporator housing through a drain tube that passes through the floorboard and outside the car, this drain tube can plug with debris and cause a backup of water into the evaporator housing. Sometimes the water spills over into the vehicle's interior. It all depends on the severity of the blockage. Even with proper drainage, there is still enough condensation present on the evaporator fins and within the evaporator case to enable mold growth.
You can combat mold (and odor) by attacking the problem at its source. First, make sure the evaporator drain tube flows properly. With the A/C system operating, you should see a discharge of water from the tube below your car. However, even if there is drainage, it may not be sufficient as the tube could be partially restricted, causing a back-up into the evaporator case. You will find the tube located directly below the heating/air conditioning case, where it passes through the floorboard to the outside. The tube is made out of a flexible rubber material. Inspect the tube closely from underneath and look and feel for debris in the end. Sometimes, mud and other road debris may collect on the end of the tube and impair proper flow. Clean the tube as needed to restore proper flow.
The next step is to treat the mold itself (the heart of the problem). To do this, you treat the evaporator core with an anti-microbial chemical that attacks and kills the mold. You can do this with some products by spraying them into the A/C vents and air intake. Others require that you apply them directly to the evaporator core itself with a special applicator wand or nozzle. In extreme cases, the evaporator may need to be removed for cleaning, but this is rare and best left for professional service technicians.
The most important thing is to make sure you use a chemical that actually kills the mold and follow the directions exactly for that product. Simply treating the problem with a deodorizer will only mask the odor for the short term. For best results, the evaporator should be treated annually. Here are a few other tips that may help the mold problem from reoccurring. First, turn off the A/C, then switch the blower to the high setting, and move the air control (if applicable; often used on Japanese imports) to the fresh (outside) air mode. Doing this for about the last 10 minutes of operation can help dry the evaporator and case, helping to curb the breeding ground for mold. Running the system normally in the fresh air mode, rather than the recirculation mode, may also help to reduce the chances of mold formation. Finally, if your car has a cabin filter, make sure it's changed on a regular basis (usually every 15,000 miles). Excessive dirt entering the evaporator case gives mold extra "food."This is what I was trying to say its been awile so I was going from memory. Thanks Webwader

Hondas use to be a lot worse then the new models today for this problem. I remember one dealer trying all sorts of methods, some of them included some ozone type of machine that you placed in the vehicle, turned on the vehicle and let the vents run in with the fan on, this machine gets plugged into the wall electrics socket and you let the vehicle sit out in the parking lot running like this for about 2 to 6 hours, and it was supposed to take away the smell of the mold/mildew and or other bad odors in the AC system. I let them experiment on my 91 volvo wagon way back then since it had a really bad AC odor (like dirty socks, cat urine and mold all together in one odor) and they had my wagon sitting out in the parking lot running the full 9 hours that I was at the dealer that day, the smell was gone when I got in the wagon that evening, but withing 2 days it was back as bad as it was before the 'treatment'. It was useless junk.

Another common cure at one time was to spray an entire can (or 2 or 3 or more even) of lysol disinfectant down the front vents so that it would reach the evaporator box and try to disinfect anything down there.

Of course another but slightly more expensive method was to remove the evaporator box, replace the insulation in it if any and disinfect the box. However depending on how the customer used the AC it could return in as little as a few weeks to a stinky situation.

Then there was some sort of a kit that was created that you tapped a nozzle into the evap core box and could easily spray some type of chemical in there to kill whatever was growing in there whether it was mold or mildew or whatever.

For as long back as I can remember we've been advising customers to leave their fan blower motor set to the first speed all the time, and to turn off the AC and just open the windows and turn the blower to high about 10 to 15 minutes before arriving at their destination to dry out the evaporator box. However when you live where I live and summer average daily temps are well over 115f, that's just not feasible.

Anyway I figure that the new ones don't get this as frequently as the older vehicles due to the filter blocking the crud before it gets down into the evap box where it gets wet and can sit and rot.

I have the same smell problem and have never had it on recirculate. Seems to be more prevelant when it has just rained or is damp outside. Changed the filter (it was clean) and the odor was still there. Once the a/c kicks in the odor seems to go away in a few minutes. I am thinking it is a clogged condensate line but don't know where to look for it. Can anyone tell me how to go about cleaning/clearing the line?

Well I've been hit by the smelly AC system now. The truck only has about 5100 miles on her and about 4 or 5 months old now and yet I've kept the Fan setting to the first setting and NON-recirculatory settings all the time when it's not being used for heat or AC. In other words when it's beautiful out the fan is always on the lowest setting to keep it dried out.

But as soon as I turn on the AC the odor is there, obviously it goes away with the AC on, or I become desensitized to it within a few moments maybe. I'm going to have to take it to the dealer and get them to clean out the AC evap box since it's still under warranty and theres really no call for this to be stinking this early in the game.

I've gotten this in every vehicle I've ever owned. It's just a fact of life - AC that gets any recirculate use, which ours does if you keep it on Auto, will get this smell, it seems. I've found one way to combat it: remove your AC filter, spray a bit of Lysol in there with the AC running, let it blow for a bit, then reinstall your AC, and let the AC run for a while to get the Lysol smell to dissipate. It seems to kill off the odor for a while.

I've gotten this in every vehicle I've ever owned. It's just a fact of life - AC that gets any recirculate use, which ours does if you keep it on Auto, will get this smell, it seems. I've found one way to combat it: remove your AC filter, spray a bit of Lysol in there with the AC running, let it blow for a bit, then reinstall your AC, and let the AC run for a while to get the Lysol smell to dissipate. It seems to kill off the odor for a while.

That's also a trick that dealers used to use years ago, we use to spray 1 to 3 smaller cans of lysol down the front vent so that it would get down to the airbox, and it would disinfect the mold and mildew down there temporarily. Might last anywhere from a couple days to a few weeks, maybe more if lucky. Now there are better ways of doing it at the shop, but for home, it's probably one of the cheapest temporary solutions.

I was under the impression that the whole idea of adding the AC filter was so that debris doesn't get down into the blower box and mildew causing the stink. If the box is draining properly, I would have hoped that it would dry out enough to prevent mildew and mold. My 93 Volvo 850 never had this issue, where we live we run AC 10 months out of the year.

Misery loves company.

Just in the last few weeks I noticed the "smell" on damp days. I don't use the recirculate mode, the pollen was recently changed and had nothing funky on it and the drain tube seems to be fine. Now my warranty expires on Nov. 21st. Is this a real, in the dealers eyes, covered issue? and for them to experience the problem the weather needs to be just right, I can see the Operator Error finger being pointed at me, so I kind of feel I'm on my own with this one. Regarding the Lysol spray - just spray in the front vents and in the pollen filter area? Anyone try this method? Care to comment?

I'm facing the same thing myself right now.

My AC stinks upon first firing up the AC, or when turning off the AC and just running the fan. One would think that the ultra fine cabin filter would catch all and prevent debris from getting down into the evap box to mix with the water and cause the mildew/mold issues thats causing the stink.

Mine stinks really really bad either right when I turn it on, (fan or AC) or when I've been running the AC and turn off the AC and just let the fans run. I've got all of 8000 miles on the truck now, and the cabin filter started getting clogged and thus slowing down airflow about 5k miles and was unbearably clogged up at about 7500 miles.

If they tell me that I must pay for the cleaning, you can bet your last dollar that I'll be hootin' and a hollerin' at the customer service rep down at American Honda when I call them. I refuse to have to pay $40.00 every 5,000 miles to replace a cabin air filter and then pay more money to have the evap box cleaned out to get rid of the odor. That's in my opinion the purpose of having the cabin filter, to prevent muck from getting down in the evap box and causing the mold and mildew.

I notice that there is always a nice size puddle of water under the truck after the AC has been used when I come to a stop or park it, so mine too is draining properly.

Honda has always been plagued with this problem and has never solved it properly in my opinion. Both my old volvo and my old BMW never got the stink in them even though they both had over 150k miles on them.

I have to go in next week to replace the center arm rest since the tech broke it on the last visit so Im going to ask for the repair at that time.

If your truck is still new(ish), I wouldn't go the lysol route, take it in and try to get them to cover a proper repair so that it's documented that it's a problem so when it happens again in 3 mo or 6 or 12 mo, you have something to fall back on as proof that there is a defect in the design. That's what Im aiming for.

Honda has always been plagued with this problem and has never solved it properly in my opinion. Both my old volvo and my old BMW never got the stink in them even though they both had over 150k miles on them.
It's not a Honda problem. It's a car problem. I've never had any vehicle that didn't develop this. I smelled it in every vehicle that's been in my family at one point or another - GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Toyotas (two,) Fords (two), Nissan, and now two Hondas. It just happens. Get the Lysol like we suggested and give it a spray. It does the trick amazingly well, just let it air out for a while because it does have an overwhelming odor for a bit. It's probably exactly what the service department's going to do - you don't actually think they're going to tear apart the dash and wash the ducts, right? And do you really want them doing that?!

As for where to spray the Lysol, since gobo asks, I took the filter out and sprayed directly onto the running fan, which directly injects the Lysol into all ducts. Just be prepared for Lysol fumes to come out of the vents immediately!

Spraying lysol is a tried and true dealer method. My old VW dealer used a VW approved spray for this very issue. My truck (Knock on wood) currently has over 60K on it and I have not had any musty odors yet. I do, however, make sure to run the A/C with recirculation turned off for about the last two or minutes of driving just to give the evap time to dry a little before shutting off the motor.

Spraying lysol is a tried and true dealer method.

Spraying musty old motel rooms with Lysol is also a tried and proven method. Personally, I'd rather smell a rancid evaporator for the first few minutes of operation than smelling Lysol all of the time.

The smell of Lysol should be solely associated with cheap thrills!;):D

LOL, plus the Lysol fumes are toxic to kitty cats :)

I feel I'm catching this musty air issue early, it has just been 2 times in the last few weeks. Thought a first it was stale air that just needed to blow out, but not so. Under a 60 degree 'ish damp day conditions the fan would not clear the air - had to turn on the AC to get odor free air. Dry days are no problem in fan only mode.

Yup the scent of Lysol will create issues/flash backs :D of it's own for a period of time, lesser of two evils I guess. I'll begin to run the AC on a regular basis to help keep the ducts dry.

Thanks all for the advice.

Sorry, didn't read any of the posts, but "Smelly A/C" first thought, what a great band name. Ok, I'll go away.

If no one has advised you yet...check the carpets, particularly the right rear. Water leak at right rear post seems common. See my posts under problems-waterleak in rear. What a nightmare for me. I spend my off days trying to dry and eliminate the odor. Good luck

Yeah actually they tear about the evap box and clean it out, spraying lysol is old school and something we use to do in the early 90's for hondas, now there are kits that they apply to the evap box (it's like a nipple they insert) that allows them to spray disinfectant into the evap box to clean it out without having to ever take it apart again. The smell doesn't come from the ducts on the vehicle, those stay dry, it's the wet damp evap box where the core is that stays too wet and all the crevices and what not that collects the water and sits there and molds.

Yeah, I do want them to pull the evap box, replace the styrofoam insulation and clean out the box with disinfectant, it's the only way to actually get rid of the odor for a proper length of time. Lysol had customer returning in anywhere from a few days to a month, never longer did they stay away after a lysol treatment (which I might add I suggested on these forums ages ago because its what we use to do at the dealer level years ago and the only thing that a consumer can do to try to get rid of the odor).

The fan in my truck stays on low all the time, so when Im not using the AC, the fan is left on low to keep the box dry, however much like anything else that mildews (stick a towel in the washing machine, wash it, and leave it in there for 5 days, you've got a moldy towel, and even though you wash it again, and it smells clean, as soon as it gets wet again it will stink again, because it's not been properly disinfected to get rid of the mildew and mold) the AC in the honda is exactly the same, the only real way to get rid of it for any length of time is to properly replace parts and disinfect the rest.

This thread reminds me of a "Friends" episode.

This thread reminds me of a "Friends" episode.
"Smelly Cat".... Great song, difficult to dance to. I gave it a "75"!
Joe
South Philly
:D

Rumor has it, Feebe had a smelly cat. :eek:

Rumor has it, Feebe had a smelly cat. :eek:HEY! This is a family forum ;)

the only real way to get rid of it for any length of time is to properly replace parts and disinfect the rest.

I totally agree with you here. With my 20 days and counting warranty period running out is that I'm not going to get that type of repair from Honda at this point, they are just going to spray, if that, and wait me out. That's the reality. If in the future I have to foot the repair cost myself, hopefully performed by my longtime trusted private shop, will give me a piece of mind that this problem is treated properly. I don't trust my local Honda service department when it comes to my health. Based on my ownership of other vehicles and how this RL is kept and operated, this should NOT be happening at this time.

Up date: I did a little research and it's the way newer auto AC units are built, more fins than older vehicles, that cause this stink issue. I'm holding off with the Lysol and will get the evap unit hosed off with a more appropriate wash when the time is right. I now don't feel it's a Honda only thing since my research. Looks like GM and Ford have special units that can be installed to systematically blow out the AC system to prevent moisture build up. The advise of members in this thread that say to run the fan only after using the AC to dry things out and to run the AC once weekly during the winter are right on the money. Just a new habit I need to establish. Live and learn. Homemade Penicillin anyone?

Well, I've found out to my dismay, that Honda no longer wishes to put the nipple on the evap box to disinfect properly. The advisor "said" that he believes it's because too many technicians had drilled into the evap core itself when drilling into the case to install the nipple.

In my opinion he's lying like a dog. Of the times that the dealers I contract with have done this procedure, they have removed the evap box to install the nipple, and replace the insulation inside on the first time, and then on any future return visits they can then inject the disinfectant in through the nipple they placed.

He "says" that Honda has told them to use "ozium"(sp?) turn on the fan blower motor, and stand outside the vehicle and spray the ozium spray into the intake of the blower fan so that it gets down to the evap core.

In my opinion this is useless. It will not properly disinfect nor remove the odor for very long if at all.

Im going to let him attempt this none the less tommorrow when I take the truck in, however when the odor comes back, and I think it quite likely the odor will be back within an hour or less, then Im going to demand that they do a proper repair to get rid of the odor.

I explained to the advisor that if I have to replace the cabin air filter every 7 to 10 months, then it's an ultra fine filter and should be blocking what ever is getting down into the evap case that is sitting down there and rotting. If that is not the case, and it's water getting trapped in there then the drain isn't working right, and if it's water getting trapped somehow by the insulation then it's poor design and that I want it fixed as I refuse to live with this possible mold and mildew being breathed in by my family and myself.

I explained that Im ultra conscience of the issue and that I turn on the blower to just the fan with air from outside the vehicle when ever I turn off the AC when it's possible, however living in the desert here, it's not possible to turn off the AC 10 to 15 minutes before arriving at our destination as the advisor suggest since it gets over 115f degrees here in the summer and that Honda will have to find a solution to this, and if it means that I have to come in every single day to have them respray their ozium into the cabin fan intake then I'll do that for a while just to be a real nusiance customer and finally look for an attorney that is sensitive to issues regarding mold and mildew.

Yeah, it sounds harsh but quite honestly Im pretty fed up with the way that Honda has been treating their customers recently. With regards to the transmission problems they had on 1999 to 2001 model vehicles where they extended the warranty to like 10 years 7 months or 100k and something miles and when the customer is out by a month and there mileage is still down there at like 55k miles many of the dpsm's are making the customers pay a heavy portion of the bill. In my opinion that bulletin (02-062) should have had no time stipulation on it and only had the mileage stipulation for real customer satisfaction. Since I contract to do the warranty for honda dealers I see a lot of this co-pay going on now that the vehicles are coming out of the time stipulation even though they are well under the mileage of the bulletin and it reeks of bad customer service which is not why I decided on getting my first Honda, the Ridgeline.

Anyway, if you can't tell, Im a bit steamed (no pun intended) about this odor, the last visit to the dealer had the tech break the center arm rest, and now the rear window is making noise, but mostly about this nasty cat piss odor that is obviously not going to be cured by spraying ozium into the ac intake.



In a nutshell.....

1. They wish to use Ozium to make the smell go away.
2. Honda or the dealer no longer wish to do the proper repair to make it easier to properly clean out the ac evap box now and in the future.

Sorry to rant but it really just pisses me off about this since friends tell me that my sence of smell is so sensitive that if they are having a egg and onion sandwich at home and call me on the phone I can tell they've been eating onions. Not really but you get the idea how sensitive my sence of smell is which makes this really really annoying to me to the point where I don't wish to use the AC because immediately afterwards the odor is there when turning it off.

Anyway, have a great day everybody.

Sorry guys, I think this is a bit ridiculous. It's not perfect nor is it a closed system. It's not as if contaminants can't settle into it from the air vents and ducts themselves when the system is off, bypassing the filter entirely. I think you're asking WAY too much from a vehicle and your maintenance people.

Glad to hear about this Ozium stuff, however. I'll be giving that a try next time I need it, which my system hasn't in quite a while (you guys keep dismissing simple Lysol, but after a couple treatments, it got rid of the odor.)

I work for a company that sells AC service tools and I am familiar with this problem. All of the OEM's have a problem with mold growth on the evaporators in certain vehicles. The products that you can buy at the auto parts stores are just band-aids for the problem. There is a company that sells the only product that I know of that will eliminate the problem. Go to www.airsept.com

Good Luck!!

Pricey. But if it works, it's worth it.

I've experienced an increasing smell of urine in my ridgeline over the last 6 months. The smell only occurs when I open the sun roof or rear slider or a combination of both. With all windows closed and the AC on it's fine. So it seem like the smell is coming in from outside the vehicle. I'm stumped and have never had this type of problem with any other vehicle, truck or car.

It's clear to me it is not the cabin filter or mold in the vents. I've checked the seals around the sun roof and there are no leaks and everything in the vehicle is dry. The vehicle has been outside in the rain all summer as my boat is in my garage in the summer.

I've experienced an increasing smell of urine in my ridgeline over the last 6 months. The smell only occurs when I open the sun roof or rear slider or a combination of both. With all windows closed and the AC on it's fine. So it seem like the smell is coming in from outside the vehicle. I'm stumped and have never had this type of problem with any other vehicle, truck or car.

When is the last time you have washed your vehicle or detailed the inside?

It is possible you have had animals marking your truck but I would also think you would smell this when anywhere near your vehicle as well.

You may need to remove your headliner and make sure it is clean between the headliner and the roof.

If the outside is kept clean and spotless then it may be time to have it detailed.