Bad Odor from Ventilation System in Cabin of 2004 6i

[russr]

I have a 2004 Mazda6i 5 door.

I noticed in the past few months that there is a bad odor coming from my ventilation system. It is the worst when I first turn the car on. It is bad with the A/C off with RECirculate and is slightly better with A/C off and FRESH. When I turn the A/C, it improves quite a bit, but is still detectable especially or RECirculate.

The smell can best be described as a moldy, musty smell that is similar to what you get if you leave clothes wet for too long in the summer time.

This odor is driving me nuts. Please help.

I've tried switching to FRESH and blasting with hot air with A/C on to dry the evaporator core, but it only helps for a few mins before smelling kinda nasty again.

I've also examined my cabin filter behind the glove box and did not find it to be dirty or moldy really. Nonetheless I sprayed it with Lysol deodorizer, but it didn't help the problem.

 

[RallyeRedSi]

ha reminds me of the seinfeld episode when jerry gets his car back and it smells and he can't get it out

 

[J dragon]

I have a 2004 Mazda6i 5 door.

I noticed in the past few months that there is a bad odor coming from my ventilation system. It is the worst when I first turn the car on. It is bad with the A/C off with RECirculate and is slightly better with A/C off and FRESH. When I turn the A/C, it improves quite a bit, but is still detectable especially or RECirculate.

The smell can best be described as a moldy, musty smell that is similar to what you get if you leave clothes wet for too long in the summer time.

This odor is driving me nuts. Please help.

I've tried switching to FRESH and blasting with hot air with A/C on to dry the evaporator core, but it only helps for a few mins before smelling kinda nasty again.

I've also examined my cabin filter behind the glove box and did not find it to be dirty or moldy really. Nonetheless I sprayed it with Lysol deodorizer, but it didn't help the problem.

Under Warranty? Get R DUN!!!

 

[m6speed]

check your air cabin filter, but there is also a problem with the coolant resevour (sp?) that causes a bad odor...here is a fix for it
http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=49

 

[russr]

check your air cabin filter, but there is also a problem with the coolant resevour (sp?) that causes a bad odor...here is a fix for it
http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=49

No that coolant resevoir is not the problem...this is a different odor.

 

[BlueSolrac]

I had this exact problem as well at the beginning of the summer. I changed my cabin air filter and no longer had any issues. I was at about 22,000 miles when I changed the filter.

 

[russr]

I had this exact problem as well at the beginning of the summer. I changed my cabin air filter and no longer had any issues. I was at about 22,000 miles when I changed the filter.

Yeah but you saw what I said right? My air filter isn't even dirty and I've got 8000 miles on her

 

[crossbow]

Depending on climate, it CAN be dirty by 10k miles. Especially if you use the AC with recirc interior on alot.

 

[russr]

crossbow, like I said, i took out the glove box, removed the cabin air filter and it is definitely not the problem. Aside from a small amount of debris that I removed, it literally looked brand new. It didn't smell either. Besides, the cabin air filter only gets air through it when the FRESH air is selected I think. I am primarly having the problem with RECirculate.

Check out this thread:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113235

There's a TSB out that involves a repair prodcedure not covered under Warranty...I'd do it myself but I don't have a compressor line to do it. Any ideas about this?

 

[crossbow]

If your under 12k miles...EVERYTHING is covered...including cloth fraying, build quality issues, paint chipping, etc.

 

[Da 6]

if not, then turn it on vent and spray febreze into the cowl (vent under windshield wipers). The stuff I used was a spray from autozone for spraying into the a/c. Not reccomending it entirely cause I don't know if it really is a "antibacterial" spray.

 

[russr]

If your under 12k miles...EVERYTHING is covered...including cloth fraying, build quality issues, paint chipping, etc.

crossbow, I was not aware of that. I'm having build quality issues as well, so what do I tell them to steer them in the right direction instead of them just saying, "oh we found nothing wrong"?

Thanks

 

[Da 6]

any update on the situation(s)?

 

[russr]

any update on the situation(s)?

The smell has gotten much worse in the past week, to the point where the only way it is tolerable is if I turn the A/C on and set it to Fresh.
If it were the evaporator core, it should only stink when the A/C is on or first turned on right? The fact that it is stinking more with A/C off, has me confused. I've tried doing the stuff posted online about drying the evaporator core for 10-15 minutes by setting A/C off and Rec on and blasting hot air. Other than causing my to sweat my balls off, it has not done much else.

So I've called the dealer and set up an appointment for service next Wednesday. I really hope they fix it and don't charge me as it should be covered under warranty. The thing only has 8500 miles on it.

 

[5by5]

Same here.

I've got a 2002 P5, and the same thing is happening. I noticed it after I went on vacation for 2 weeks over the summer. It's getting worse. I pulled the glove box and "Fabrezed" the heck out of the inside filter and air channels. Nothing. Pulled the engine air filter and it's clean, and doesn't smell. Is there another filter somewhere? Or maybe a dead animal stuck in there?

I have a 2004 Mazda6i 5 door.

I noticed in the past few months that there is a bad odor coming from my ventilation system. It is the worst when I first turn the car on. It is bad with the A/C off with RECirculate and is slightly better with A/C off and FRESH. When I turn the A/C, it improves quite a bit, but is still detectable especially or RECirculate.

The smell can best be described as a moldy, musty smell that is similar to what you get if you leave clothes wet for too long in the summer time.

This odor is driving me nuts. Please help.

I've tried switching to FRESH and blasting with hot air with A/C on to dry the evaporator core, but it only helps for a few mins before smelling kinda nasty again.

I've also examined my cabin filter behind the glove box and did not find it to be dirty or moldy really. Nonetheless I sprayed it with Lysol deodorizer, but it didn't help the problem.

 

[russr]

I've got a 2002 P5, and the same thing is happening. I noticed it after I went on vacation for 2 weeks over the summer. It's getting worse. I pulled the glove box and "Fabrezed" the heck out of the inside filter and air channels. Nothing. Pulled the engine air filter and it's clean, and doesn't smell. Is there another filter somewhere? Or maybe a dead animal stuck in there?

It's the evaporator core since condensation occurs there and mold and other crap grows in it.

You need to get it sprayed so it goes into the evaporator core. Febreeze won't do it. You need something with a lot of bacteria killing power.

 

[5by5]

Where?

Sorry to ask this, but where is this? Do I need to pull the dash off to get to it? I'm not really that knowledgable about technical stuff, but I'm handy. I can do this, but I'm not sure I know what I'm looking for. Thanks, btw, for helping me.

It's the evaporator core since condensation occurs there and mold and other crap grows in it.

You need to get it sprayed so it goes into the evaporator core. Febreeze won't do it. You need something with a lot of bacteria killing power.

 

[russr]

Sorry to ask this, but where is this? Do I need to pull the dash off to get to it? I'm not really that knowledgable about technical stuff, but I'm handy. I can do this, but I'm not sure I know what I'm looking for. Thanks, btw, for helping me.

Sorry for the delay in response, but I have no idea where the evaporator core is. My guess is it is under the dash to the left of the glove box. I say this because the cabin filer is right behind the glove box and the fan is below it. This is on my Mazda6. I don't know if it is the same on the P5 or not.

I took my car to the dealer for this problem and all they did was spray some crap through the intake at the bottom of the windshield. Needless to say, it was not good enough as after a day or so, the problem was back. Check out the TSB that I posted in my previous posts. That thing they recommend doing in the TSB is the only sure way to get rid of the smell.

 

[TStar]

i would say
"bad small from a/c" = 8/10 times it is bacteria... get to your dealer and tell them to put a nice cloud of special a/c desinfection/fumigation spray into the a/c..then turn it on,let it run for like 15-20mins...the smell should disappear...
bacteria problems can occure if you use the a/c in a wrong way.. (pls just turn the a/c OFF a few minutes BEFORE you end your driving).