Bad vent smell after starting up

[Cjmooch]

If it smells like vinegar then its moisture in your ac. I had this happen on my 99 silverado a couple summers ago. Over the summer from condensation in the vents it caused bacteria to grow back there, i.e. the vinegar smell. It took a while to fix, theres some can you can buy that you spray the stuff in all the vents to kill the bacteria, I forget what its called but it was some AC smell away stuff. 

[bowtie76]

Any follow up on this?

 

Mine started smelling on startup.  Hard to tell if it smells like something died.  Also kind of smells like the inside of a tire or new tube.

 

Weird how those two things smell similar.

[jaxcam02]

I get this sometimes if I have the ac on full blast on a humid day. The next day I go to start the vents smell stale. Next time try turning the heat on full blast for a few minutes before you shut the truck off. If it doesn't smell the next morning it's condensation on the condenser in the dash. Should be an easy way to rule out something dead.

[Supreme Pizza]

I would remove the cabin filter, turn the blower on HI, Put the temperature on cold, with the A/C off, put the HVAC setting to "recycle", rather than fresh air intake. and spray several mists of Fabreeze into the HVAC air intake. Do this on each vent selection (dash, defrost, floor, etc). Then spray a couple pumps into the front floor mats, misting the surface. Close the doors, and let it sit for 10 minutes with the engine and blower off. Then start the rig, put the temp and blower on HI, and cycle the vent selections (defrost, vent, floor, etc). Leave the windows down to let all the Fabreeze moisture out. Put new cabin filter in. 

 

    That will deodorize the entire system,. 

[Hate Work]

There are ozone treatments. You can buy one yourself on Amazon/EBay. My wife's car had leaves at the air intake under the hood that worked their way all the way down to the cabin filter. I had better luck running the A/C on high while spraying ozium or lysol than a fragrance. If moisture has been in the intake for awhile, then there could be mold......

 

I run recirculate in the humid summer months and fresh air during the low humidity winter weather.

[Retired Bob]

Each time I have my truck in for service the dealer does a 28 point (or some number - can't remember how many things the check) at no charge. They usually check the engine and the cabin filter and if they are dirty they bring the filter to the waiting room and show it to me and ask if I want it replaced. One time they brought the cabin filter out and asked if I wanted it replaced and I told them 'I have a new cabin filter in the truck. How about you replacing this one which you need to put back in with mine instead?'  That did - at no charge.

[Retired Bob]

New Vaportek Odor Eliminator System

https://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=10519

The Restorator from Vaportek is a new odor eliminator system now available through GM Dealer Equipment. Based on GM testing, the easy-to-use, portable system effectively eliminates odor contamination quickly and safely. Primarily intended for delivering a fast, high-intensity treatment, it uses Vaportek’s patented spill-proof essential oil cartridges to release a nontoxic, odor-neutralizing dry vapor into the air to neutralize organic-based odors and smoke odors. The penetrating vapor quickly controls and eliminates unpleasant smells caused by sources such as smoke, moisture, humidity, food, and biological odors.

See entire article  - listed above

[Supreme Pizza]

3 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

How about you replacing this one which you need to put back in with mine instead?' 

 

    Eh? What do you mean? They brought you a dirty one, instead of yours? 

[Hoover98]

2018 purchased August 2018, 4220 miles. Houston area, and its been really rainy, cold then warm and humid rinse and repeat the last few months. Started noticing this smell on startup about half of the time about a month ago. Taking for first oil change Friday so will have them look at it. 

[bowtie76]

On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 5:46 PM, bowtie76 said:

Any follow up on this?

 

Mine started smelling on startup.  Hard to tell if it smells like something died.  Also kind of smells like the inside of a tire or new tube.

 

Weird how those two things smell similar.

Following up on this, I ended up finding a dead mouse in the filter.  Apparently the fresh/recycle diverter caught the mouse as it moved one time and killed the mouse.  Found dead dried mouse, baby, and nest on filter.  

 

Changed and smell went away, and now I check my filter about once a month.