Anyone else have this?

Start the car, A/C is on, and once it starts blowing, a smell like cat urine comes out with the air. However, after a few seconds, it goes away.

I don't believe a cat has peed in my vents--the car is always parked in a garage, both at home and at work. And, the smell goes away quickly.

I've read something about condensation on the A/C compressor causing mold to grow--but this is an (almost) brand new car!

Is this just the smell of the A/C compressor coming on?

--michael

 

you got it, the mold is exactly the problem. mold can grow over night in your fridge, so can it grow in your car. one thing i tried which is turning off the ac button and let it run for 15-20 seconds before shutting off my car, and the next morning start the car with ac button off again. Repeat this for a few days and the smell completely goes away.

 

run the heater for about 10 minutes full blast. sometimes that helps.

 

I always thought it was the in-cabin microfilter with mold growth.

 

What he said.

 

yea, i do the same. When I'm a few minutes from my destination I leave the fan running but I turn the AC off. If you haven't ever done this, the first couple times it'll be stinky. Now I do it with all my cars. NO more mouldy smell.

 

Condensation build-up in the HVAC system, quite normal. I recommend what yooyooyoo said, blow it out, sometimes if it is too much however, it will not work that well. You can spray some Lysol into the cabin air intake, or change your cabin filter.

 

Thanks everyone. I'll try the suggestions.

I've owned quite a few cars before, and this is the first one with this problem. Wonder why? Something in the design of the Mitsubishi compressor?

 

It isn't anything to do with the compressor. It is just whether or not there's condensation/mold in your HVAC intake. It happened a lot to me when I lived in Houston, actually, because of the high humidity.

 

its not uncommon or specific to mitsubishi's

 

there is another thread on this site relating to this. I just got my air filter in today. will post results. the other thread had before and after imgs of the filters too. has anyone ever sprayed air freshener on the cabin filter? I had a honda that smelled even better when the a/c was on.. a possibility???

 

My IX had this problem. Always smelled musty when the AC was first turned on. Annoying.

 

You said change the air cabin filter and stop farting in the car with the windows closed..lol....

 

be a gentleman in your car..nothing else is needed