Air Conditioner Wet Smell

[kingfishjohn]

Hey all,

I've got a 2022 Telluride SX that just passed 16000 miles and I got July of last year. About a month ago the car was due for its 16000 mile service and I noticed a wet/mildew smell coming out of the AC on startup when the car had been sitting overnight. The smell went completely away after 10 seconds of the car being on and wouldn't come back unless the car had been sitting for 4+ hours at a time.

Took the car in for service, advisor said it needs a new air filter. Fine, argued the price of the filter, he shows it to me and it is indeed dirty and also wet. They cannot explain how the air filter had gotten wet and it's not rained in Austin, TX in months. Recommends we use an AC refresh kit on the car ($130) even though the car is less than a year old. We go back and forth and I agree to the refresh provided that if this doesnt work, he was going to have a larger problem to deal with. AC refresh kit made the smell completely go away for 48 hours to totally neutral and then same symptoms started to come back. I check the new air filter, not dirty and also not wet.

I bring the car back in for service on Monday and they want to keep the car overnight to let another AC refresh "soak." When I picked the car back up on Tuesday the AC smelled like horrible lemon scented chemical but I figured I would give it a day to air out. Yesterday (Wednesday) the AC was totally neutral and everything was great! On startup this morning, the wet smell is back and I assume will continue to get worse. Of course the smell is after the car has been sitting so the service advisor and tech essentially told me nothing was wrong and they did the second refresh as a "courtesy."

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any feedback for me? The AC works great but constantly getting a mildew smell on startup isn't something I want to deal with a relatively brand new car that also happens to be the most expensive car I've ever purchased.

Thanks so much,

John

PS: I didn't buy my car through the dealer I'm having it serviced by and if anyone has a recommendation in Austin, I'd love it

 

[tpgh]

Have someone check for mold/mildew around the evaporator core.

 

[Amati5]

I thought this wet smell is common to all cars. The only difference is how the ac is being used and humidity level in the area. Humidity will go to where the air is colder and dryer. After you shut off the car and if ac was used, the cold dry air is still in the duct and humidity will move into the ducts and just sit there. So the next start up, if the fan is on, you’ll smell the wet air first. At least that’ show I understand it. I always try to turn off the ac and blast the fan about 2 mins before I get home to push all the cold dry air out of the ducts. I think this is the reason why on most cars, the defrost always turn on the AC to make sure the air is dry, not to fog up the windshield. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[RyanATX]

Hey all,

I've got a 2022 Telluride SX that just passed 16000 miles and I got July of last year. About a month ago the car was due for its 16000 mile service and I noticed a wet/mildew smell coming out of the AC on startup when the car had been sitting overnight. The smell went completely away after 10 seconds of the car being on and wouldn't come back unless the car had been sitting for 4+ hours at a time.

Took the car in for service, advisor said it needs a new air filter. Fine, argued the price of the filter, he shows it to me and it is indeed dirty and also wet. They cannot explain how the air filter had gotten wet and it's not rained in Austin, TX in months. Recommends we use an AC refresh kit on the car ($130) even though the car is less than a year old. We go back and forth and I agree to the refresh provided that if this doesnt work, he was going to have a larger problem to deal with. AC refresh kit made the smell completely go away for 48 hours to totally neutral and then same symptoms started to come back. I check the new air filter, not dirty and also not wet.

I bring the car back in for service on Monday and they want to keep the car overnight to let another AC refresh "soak." When I picked the car back up on Tuesday the AC smelled like horrible lemon scented chemical but I figured I would give it a day to air out. Yesterday (Wednesday) the AC was totally neutral and everything was great! On startup this morning, the wet smell is back and I assume will continue to get worse. Of course the smell is after the car has been sitting so the service advisor and tech essentially told me nothing was wrong and they did the second refresh as a "courtesy."

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any feedback for me? The AC works great but constantly getting a mildew smell on startup isn't something I want to deal with a relatively brand new car that also happens to be the most expensive car I've ever purchased.

Thanks so much,

John

PS: I didn't buy my car through the dealer I'm having it serviced by and if anyone has a recommendation in Austin, I'd love it

I recently started having this problem, and it started out minor but now we have a strong mildew smell that won’t go away even after running for a while. I am also in Austin and will see what Kia of North Austin says. Ever get a resolution for yours?

______________________________

 

[kingfishjohn]

Hey Ryan,

Also go to Kia of North Austin for maintenance and they let the chemical soak in the vehicle overnight. Car smelled miserable the next day (like well it was full of mold killing chemical) and luckily went away about 24 hours from that.

Car was absolutely neutral for two days and the mildew smell started to come back. It comes and goes at this point and I want to try a carbon cabin air filter (they are ridiculously easy to change).

Wish I had a better answer and let me know what you find with yours.

 

[PittPa]

How to Get Rid of Musty Smell From Car Air Conditioner - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports shows you how to get rid of the the musty smell from your car's air conditioner. Few things are as welcoming as a car’s AC on a hot summer day.

www.consumerreports.org

You're problem is not alone to Kia. I've had this issue with Acura and BMW vehicles I've owned. It comes down to the same source. It seems to be worse in hot climates. Changing the cabin filter won't do much since the problem is downstream of the filter. From my own encounters with this issue, it just seemed to "go away" under certain conditions. I haven't encountered any of these problems with later model cars, it was more of an issue with vehicles I had 10 plus years ago. I thought they had remedied this situation but apparently not. I am one for thoroughly cleaning the source with actually physical contact, hot water and disinfectant, but the location prohibits this. Spraying disinfectant seems to kill some of the bacteria causing the mold but not all, accounting for the return of the problem.

 

[KDF]

Good afternoon,
I bought a 2023 Kia Telluride X-Pro in November. Once I started using the AC I now have a mildew smell. This is NOT a musty smell (like from the cabin filter). It is specifically Mildew. It cycles like everyone else is saying as well. When the car goes from warm to hot. Unfortunately, after the treatment it now happens more consistently.

As a child I had the same problem in my house when the season changed. We eventually replaced all duct runs and found one duct section that was soaked in condensation and sour/mildewed. Basically condensation was trapped.

I have explained this 6 different times to the dealership and trying to get to a resolution. They are now on the second cleaning (as discussed by others) and have also encouraged me to cycle the air differently. This is insane. It's a defect in the car... not that I need to act differently to keep mildew from slapping me in the face. This is not an issue in every car, this is a specific issue in cars with defects.

If anyone has identified the location of condensation sitting on their vehicle, please respond and let me know. This is unacceptable for a brand new car and I will be seeking for the car to be replaced. This issue started at 4800 miles when I started using the AC.

I appreciate any thoughts or help.