2012 SL with 21K miles, bought used just 1 month ago. Everything works great on the vehicle and I really like it. Recently, being that we are getting warm weather in the Bay Area, I've been using the A/C however as of late I've started to smell a funny order that likens to standing water. Anyone have any ideas what this might be? I suppose the A/C condensation line might not be releasing the water completely and some of it is getting pooled somewhere. Any ideas what I can check before I take it to the mechanic?
Thanks folks. I have since replaced the cabin air filter with a FRAM Breeze Baking Soda type and previous filter had some dust however it was not completely black and did not have evidence of mildew.
Next, I am going to check the water discharge tube/valve and make sure that is not blocked and check for standing water on the front floor on driver's side. If not blocked, I am going to clean out the evaporator coils with a product like Frigi-Fresh as recommended in one of the posts on this thread. All this while changing my AC habits and selecting the non-recirculate on turning off AC one mile before my destination. I will do this for about 2 weeks and report results. Standby.
Update:
As per the recommendations from the group I purchased an AC coil cleaner, Lubegard's Kool-It Evaporator and Heater Foam Cleaner (2 bottles), then I located the AC drain hose, which I did not have a jack to prop it up so I found where the hose connected to the evaporator housing. It is located on the driver's side in the center mount by the gas petal. There is a plastic panel that is help by a plastic crew which when turned a quarter turn it will allow you to pop it out with a flat screw driver. You then remove that small panel and you will find 2 hoses, it is the one going down. You can see it connected to the evaporator housing by pressure. I pulled it out with a simply tug and then blew in it to dislodge any debris. The open hole in the housing is where you will put in the hose provided by the Kool-It product, just follow instructions on the canister. I used two cans to make sure that stuff really go in there. When you start pumping that stuff in there make sure the hole in the housing is temporarily plugged with paper towels so that the foam doesn't escape outward. Once you are done with the foam, quickly re-insert the AC drain hose back and continue to follow the instructions to complete the process. Then put everything back together. Don't forget to place some type of recepticle beneath the car to catch the stuff that comes out of the AC drain hose. Oops, almost forgot, I removed my air cabin filter before I pumped it with Kool-It.
The smell is gone! Thanks everyone for providing your help with this. I hope this write up helps someone else too.
Thanks folks. I have since replaced the cabin air filter with a FRAM Breeze Baking Soda type and previous filter had some dust however it was not completely black and did not have evidence of mildew.
Next, I am going to check the water discharge tube/valve and make sure that is not blocked and check for standing water on the front floor on driver's side. If not blocked, I am going to clean out the evaporator coils with a product like Frigi-Fresh as recommended in one of the posts on this thread. All this while changing my AC habits and selecting the non-recirculate on turning off AC one mile before my destination. I will do this for about 2 weeks and report results. Standby.
Update:
As per the recommendations from the group I purchased an AC coil cleaner, Lubegard's Kool-It Evaporator and Heater Foam Cleaner (2 bottles), then I located the AC drain hose, which I did not have a jack to prop it up so I found where the hose connected to the evaporator housing. It is located on the driver's side in the center mount by the gas petal. There is a plastic panel that is help by a plastic crew which when turned a quarter turn it will allow you to pop it out with a flat screw driver. You then remove that small panel and you will find 2 hoses, it is the one going down. You can see it connected to the evaporator housing by pressure. I pulled it out with a simply tug and then blew in it to dislodge any debris. The open hole in the housing is where you will put in the hose provided by the Kool-It product, just follow instructions on the canister. I used two cans to make sure that stuff really go in there. When you start pumping that stuff in there make sure the hole in the housing is temporarily plugged with paper towels so that the foam doesn't escape outward. Once you are done with the foam, quickly re-insert the AC drain hose back and continue to follow the instructions to complete the process. Then put everything back together. Don't forget to place some type of recepticle beneath the car to catch the stuff that comes out of the AC drain hose. Oops, almost forgot, I removed my air cabin filter before I pumped it with Kool-It.
The smell is gone! Thanks everyone for providing your help with this. I hope this write up helps someone else too.