Car question

When I turn on the AC in my wife's car there is an initial, overpowering smell of vinegar. Any idea why? Or what sort of a problem this might be?
The car has 89,0000 miles and we are taking it to the beach next week. I don't want any issues on the trip.

 

Just a guess here...

You may have condensed water in your air ducts somewhere such that it stayed wet in there for a while. There are things called acetobacters - - bacteria that emit acetic acid as their waste product/respiration product. If they are growing in your air duct somewhere where there is moisture, you would smell the acetic acid - - vinegar - - for a while when you turn on the air conditioner.

Fumigation/cleaning the air ducts would solve the problem - - if indeed this is the problem.

 

The receiver drier may need to be cleaned. The condensation is supposed to drip out the underside of the vehicle, not stagnate in the system. If you can help it, run fresh air and don't recirculate. The fresh air helps prevent moisture accumulation.

If it persists, seek some help. While it won't leave you stranded on the side of the road, the smell is obviously an irritant. Good luck.

 

I FB and Googled it ... It's mold in the AC ducts, vents.
Simple fix though, half can of Lysol into the air intake. I had to watch a YouTube video to find out where the intake vents were.
Learn something new everyday.

 

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