# AC question



## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Is there any way to keep the old sock smell out of the AC? I imagine it's just mildew from the condensation or something. All of my cars have had a faint smell of musk when I run the air conditioning. Just wondering if there's any way to prevent this.

Currently I try to turn the AC compressor off before reaching my destination and recycle air from the car through on fan only. But I'm not sure if this is better/worse than just running the AC until you turn the car off.

Any one else have any thoughts on this?


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Have your dealer enable the 'Afterblow' feature that is available.

This will cycle the blower several times for 15 to 30 seconds over about a one hour period to dry out the evaporator and air box.
This minimizes the potential for mold to grow between the evap coils.

Rob


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## dougc905 (May 24, 2015)

Were did you learn about this 'afterblow' feature? My car doesn't smell yet. Maybe this will help/prevent it from happening. It does however, sound like something that was developed to quiet complaining customers. And another reason why our cars need these incredible batteries!


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

dougc905 said:


> Were did you learn about this 'afterblow' feature? My car doesn't smell yet. Maybe this will help/prevent it from happening. It does however, sound like something that was developed to quiet complaining customers. And another reason why our cars need these incredible batteries!


Any good dealer mechanic is aware of the feature and GM cars have had the ability for many years.
The very short fan cycles do not pull down the battery by any measurable amount.

It is not enabled because not all areas of the country have high humidity that can cause mold and it is best that an owner requests enabling the feature to prevent folks from creating unneccessary warranty claims (ie, my cars blower keeps going on and off).

Rob


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Robby said:


> Any good dealer mechanic is aware of the feature and GM cars have had the ability for many years.
> The very short fan cycles do not pull down the battery by any measurable amount.
> 
> It is not enabled because not all areas of the country have high humidity that can cause mold and it is best that an owner requests enabling the feature to prevent folks from creating unneccessary warranty claims (ie, my cars blower keeps going on and off).
> ...


Even in semi-arid Denver I had this problem. I had my after blow turned on around 15K miles and have only heard the fan once since then. Just document this, along with that silly whine from the engine cool down, in the owners manual and be done with it.


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Actually, I finally heard the mysterious whine high pitched noise after getting out of my car yesterday, it was interesting. But I will check in with my local dealer and see if they can enable the afterblow thing, it is VERY humid and hot where I live. The air is so thick. It's air that you can wear. If you are outside and the temps are over 85, you're going to sweat profusely. Haha, thanks for the info!


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## Cruzator (Dec 31, 2014)

obermd said:


> Even in semi-arid Denver I had this problem. I had my after blow turned on around 15K miles and have only heard the fan once since then. Just document this, along with that silly whine from the engine cool down, in the owners manual and be done with it.


 Do they charge you to turn that on?

What is the whine you guys are talking about? The cooling fan slowing down? The freon equalizing? I guess I haven' t notice it.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I had mine done under B2B as part of cleaning out the mold & mildew that had accumulated.


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## Wingman308 (Jan 23, 2016)

My dealer sprays some cleaner as part of 90k service, supposed to take care of the mildew/mold smell. Sorry I don't remember what it's called. I usually just turn off the compressor and turn the fan to max a few minutes before I reach my destination. Works well in hot dry summers like we have here in California central valley.


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

Thanks for this thread! my 2014 cruze 2lt has that same smell!

I always try to turn the a/c off about 5 minutes before arriving at my destination (I know that is probably not enough time but I live in HOT TEXAS!)

when the weather is hot outside, the car tends to build up this smell, my girlfriend describes it as moldy ham haha 

I will have to take it to the dealer and request this "afterblow" enabled, sooo, is there a proper term for this? or should they understand what I am asking for?

I'm still under the bumper to bumper so I hope they cover it, and will post an update as soon as I can 

Thanks for the info!


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Everybody - I posted about the solution to this long ago, and ever since I did this, NO SMELL. Unfortunately I cannot find my original post, so I will restate it here. 

When you are setting the temperature on your AC, always move it to one notch above the coldest setting. When you leave it on the coldest setting, it essentially forces recirc mode which allows the smell to build up. By running it one notch above, you are always bringing in fresh air and it never allows the smell to build up. Mine has been odor free for over 2 years by doing this.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Became a wimp when I purchased my 65 Buick first car with AC, before that, AC was only for wimps. Been switching off the compressor ever since then with that blower at max to dry off the evaporator, also prevented the car from going to the bathroom all over my garage floor.

70 Buick with automatic climate control, no way to switch off the AC, so found a nice rocker switch I mounted on the lower left panel so I could switch it off. So I could run the blower at full speed about five minutes before getting there. Namely at night, certainly not for a five minute stop at a gas station.

Later GM cars came with an "Econ" switch, strange name for a compressor switch, but that is what it did, switched off the compressor, could still run the blower at maximum.

88 Supra with ACC and a manual override switch, and even an AC switch that can be switched off, that was nice, just clicked it off before getting there. And in this car when that AC switch is off, that compressor stays off even in the defrost mold.

04 Cavalier was the first GM car with that AC switch, but not off in the defrost mold, somebody at GM is really smoking crack with this feature. First off, the pressures are so low, and the moisture content is so low, worthless to run that compressor a colder temperatures, PAG oil is stiff, and just wearing the darn thing our plus wrecking the compressor seal, you wonder why you have problems, some a$$hole created these. Wasn't too bad, just pulled the mold switch and cut off that compressor engagement wire in defrost.

And if it did collect moisture, when I got colder, would freeze up and since the evaporator is in front of the heater core, blocks air flow, how can anyone be so stupid?

Same a$$holes did the same thing with the Cruze, but no wire to cut off, all in the firmware in the BCM, could also add that switch, but getting sick of this crap, so don't even use defrost in that narrow temperature range about freezing and below around 60*F, just roll down the window until the car warms up.

Did have some cooling problems with my 65 AC, took it to a shop, guy charged me seven times as much as what I was earning as an engineer and after 70 bucks, car was worse than when I brought it in. Was time to learn about AC, really not that complicated, got all the equipment and learned how to do it right. For one thing, they know nothing about electronics.

Everything was going smooth until Al Gore came along with his BS about ozone depletion and with DuPont just getting a patent on R-134a, can only wonder how much money they paid this crook.

This is when the problems really started, got rid of those very reliable Scharder valves and switched to quick couplers that never seated properly and had to replace the entire line, not just a 50 cent valve. PAG oil is a bad joke, if you lose all pressure, have to completely flush the system, moisture causes acid that will eat away internally. Plastic valve caps, stupid, get hot and brittle. Parallel flow condensers as oppose to tube and fin are throwaway items, no way to clean them. GM dropped their bulletproof ceramic seal and went to a single lip neoprene seal, more problems. Also got away from using shims in the compressor clutch to an interference fit, more problems. Least the Cruze finally went back to shims.

But still stupid to run the AC in sub AC needed temperatures, more problems. Also get to get myself 608/609 certified to buy a can of refrigerant, and the prices went through the roof.

Now they are saying R-134a is causing global warming so want to switch to HC based refrigerants that the EPA already banned due to fire hazards. Were far better off before the government got involved, don't even know what they are doing.

No objection to getting rid of 96% of the total CFC production, was intended strictly for refrigeration that was only 4%, and no objection to even recovering it, if anything was left to recover, ha, at 80 bucks a pound from 25 cents, have to recover it or go broke.


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Cruzator said:


> Do they charge you to turn that on?
> 
> What is the whine you guys are talking about? The cooling fan slowing down? The freon equalizing? I guess I haven' t notice it.


It should be covered under bumper to bumper warranty. Not sure if there is a charge after that. As for the whining noise, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the cooling systems for the turbo. You might notice it after parking the car on a hot day.


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## CruzeDan (May 17, 2015)

Any GM technician knows about the afterblow feature. Just request they reprogram the vehicle to turn it on. Some vehicles are not able to be reprogrammed though (all Cruzes are). This is all covered in a bulletin. As for the whine, it was covered in a service document. The noise is the A/C compressor. Some sort of solenoid remains energized. I don't believe it is something harmful to the vehicle (the document doesn't state one way or the other), but it is fixed by updating the HVAC module. I haven't done either to my car yet, but I plan on turning on the afterblow at least. The buzzing doesn't bother me, happens every time I run my A/C.


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

diesel said:


> Everybody - I posted about the solution to this long ago, and ever since I did this, NO SMELL. Unfortunately I cannot find my original post, so I will restate it here.
> 
> When you are setting the temperature on your AC, always move it to one notch above the coldest setting. When you leave it on the coldest setting, it essentially forces recirc mode which allows the smell to build up. By running it one notch above, you are always bringing in fresh air and it never allows the smell to build up. Mine has been odor free for over 2 years by doing this.


I guess I'll try this 1st 



CruzeDan said:


> Any GM technician knows about the afterblow feature. Just request they reprogram the vehicle to turn it on. Some vehicles are not able to be reprogrammed though (all Cruzes are). This is all covered in a bulletin. As for the whine, it was covered in a service document. The noise is the A/C compressor. Some sort of solenoid remains energized. I don't believe it is something harmful to the vehicle (the document doesn't state one way or the other), but it is fixed by updating the HVAC module. I haven't done either to my car yet, but I plan on turning on the afterblow at least. The buzzing doesn't bother me, happens every time I run my A/C.


and this after lol


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## Cruzator (Dec 31, 2014)

I typically shut the air off 5 minutes before I'm going to park the car, and run the blower on high (outside air) to help dry out the evaporator. I have never had any car that I had start smelling on me. I have, however, bought cars that already have the problem, and it is somewhat hard to get rid of (unless you do the evaporator cleaning). I have used Lysol with a decent amount of success, as well as some of the AC deodorizers. It's best to keeps if from happening. Also, make sure the evaporator drain isn't plugged.


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