Mildew smell in car from AC - Prelude Honda Cars & Trucks

The smell is not from the cabin air filter, it is mold and mildew that is growing in the ducting and AC evaporator core, it needs to be treated with special chemicals to kill the mold and mildew, contact your local dealer or an AC repair center near you. Your vehicle shows that it DOES NOT have a cabin air filter.

Ford are aware of this and should hold there hands up in shame .
thay say it's the catalytic converter causing all these problems . Sorry I can't tell you any more has thay are keeping tight lip about it good luck and don't give in ps tell ford your going to seek legal advice on this matter then see if thay will move on this as bad publicity will make it worse for ford

air filters when used are on the inlet side of the blower motor
that normally puts then behind the glove compartment so the glove box has to be removed to get to them
use a charcoal type filter to help reduce odour.

I think you may need to chnge your cabin air filter if it smells like mildew or a musty type smell, its located under the hood by the windshield on those I believe.

Mildew smell? If so try blowing out evaporator drain tube under vehicle. Check and if not clogged get more information and will try to help.

Hi and welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly. Actually if there is mildew in the system it takes a serious cleaning of the evaporator coil and near by plastic housing / ducting to get rid of the smell. Mildew usually starts forming on the evaporator coil and compartment when the compartment drain gets to be really slow from debris or a dust clog. You can try filters and air fresheners but all they will do is mask the mildew odor. Once the mildew routine starts the only real fix is a serious cleaning of the evaporator coil, compartment and nearby air ducting. Often it takes a good mild and mildew remover to get rid of the problem completely. The evaporator compartment will for sure have to be opened up. If a service shop is going to do the cleaning job correctly they will most likely pump out the freon in the AC system and remove the evaporator coil for proper cleaning. It is not a cheap fix as it is labor intensive and requires the AC system to be drained and re-serviced. Demand that they clean the compartment drain during the cleaning process. My comments are what it really takes to purge the mildew from the AC system correctly. Your call as to fix it or live with it.
Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

This smell is caused by mold and mildew build up in the AC air passages and on the heater and the AC evaporator cores in the dash, u can spray LYSOL mold and mildew remover into the system at the air intake in front of the windshield with the blower turned to max, use about 1/4 can, then turn off the system and let it sit for an hour, then turn it back on with full heat, let that run to dry out the chemical, this will cure the smell short term until the mold and mildew grow back, it is a fix we did often in the shop, the wetter the climate u live in the worse the problem

Does it smell like a dead animal? or just moldy mildew smell? If dead animal, get it out. If mold/mildew smell, treat it with an AC ventilation dodorizer.

I have the same problem in my 2011 sonata and i finally figured out where its coming from, its inside the doors! Put your window down and then smell the top of the door where the window slides down in...its so gross....its been making me sick to my stomach!

There is no filter, this smell is caused by mold/mildew in the system from normal condensation from the AC evaporator core, you can try Lysol, spray at the air intake in front of the windshield for about 20 seconds, turn of the system and let it set overnight, this will cure the problem for a few months, then you will have to treat it again, as the mold will regrow in the moist environment of the AC air distribution box.