AIR CONDITIONING ODOR

 

CONDITION

Some customers may comment about musty odors emitted from the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system at vehicle start-up in hot: humid conditions.

This condition may be caused by condensate build-up on the evaporator core: which does not evaporate by itself in high humidity conditions. The odor may be the result of microbial growth on the evaporator core. When the blower motor fan is turned on: the microbial growth may release an unpleasant musty odor into the passenger compartment.

There are several other possible sources of a musty odor in a vehicle. A common source is a water leak into the interior of the vehicle or foreign material in the HVAC air distribution system. Follow’ the procedures in SI for identifying and correcting water leaks and air inlet The procedure contained in this bulletin is only applicable if the odor source has been determined to be microbial growth on the evaporator core inside the HVAC module. [Read more…]