That's terrible. BV?

 

QUOTE (MiamiLX @ May 30 2010, 08:57 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=327983

That's terrible. BV?

From the car's vents....not my wife's Sheesh! :huh:

 

That was brought up in 2006 here. Change the Filter every 10 K. They are notorious for not smelling well.

For that matter a Cat (or something else) could have crawled in, and perhaps left a present. The Dealer has a Service for it, but

I heard it does not work. They sell stuff in the store too, but not really advised!

 

QUOTE (MiamiLX @ May 30 2010, 09:37 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=327995

That was brought up in 2006 here. Change the Filter every 10 K. They are notorious for not smelling well.

For that matter a Cat (or something else) could have crawled in, and perhaps left a present. The Dealer has a Service for it, but

I heard it does not work. They sell stuff in the store too, but not really advised!

Thanks for the response. I have had cars with the musty smell before. (Mold etc) I think this is different. I will have the dealer check it out when I get my first oil change, or sooner if it gets worse.

 

I got rid of My Honda CRV and Subaru Forrester over this. Of course everything in South Florida Molds and Mulches. Smells like Grass

and Poop. For some reason the Sonata which also came from there doesn't have any similar characteristics. Of course I am very aware

of letting your System dry out for the last mile of your trip, or the Fungus among us could appear at any time! :thumbsup:

 

QUOTE (jsmit86 @ May 30 2010, 09:47 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=327978

My wife was in the car today, and complained about a strange odor coming from the A/C vents.

Hey man, that's what usually happens if you don't turn A/C off a minute before arriving at your destination. Without evaporating the condensation on the evaporator quickly, it starts getting moldy (this develops much quicker as weather turns colder, since it takes longer for condensation to evaporate), and that's what smells. It has nothing to do with the A/C filter, so no need to change it earlier than normal. Try that method, and the foul odor eventually goes away. And yes, this happens to ALL cars, although some develop it sooner, depending on evaporator location/orientation/design. Good luck.

 

QUOTE (elp_jc @ May 30 2010, 10:12 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=328002

Hey man, that's what usually happens if you don't turn A/C off a minute before arriving at your destination. Without evaporating the condensation on the evaporator quickly, it starts getting moldy (this develops much quicker as weather turns colder, since it takes longer for condensation to evaporate), and that's what smells. It has nothing to do with the A/C filter, so no need to change it earlier than normal. Try that method, and the foul odor eventually goes away. And yes, this happens to ALL cars, although some develop it sooner, depending on evaporator location/orientation/design. Good luck.

I will give that a shot. Thanks!

 

I had the same problem with the smell coming from the vents even when the ac wasnt on...
The problem for me went away after a weeks. I bought my self one of those clip on scent things and put it on one of the vents to decrease the odor.. But yea I think it goes away after a while.. Now I dont smell anything besides Cucumber Melon

 

I have a 2007 Azera and it does the same thing. The first time I had it serviced, they charged me $80 to change my cabin air filter, which didn't solve the problem. BTW you can change it yourself for less than $20. I absolutely love my Hyundai but I find it disturbing that your 2011 is experiencing this already. I've had difficulty determining when/why it was happening. I'm going to try the recommendation to turn it off a minute before arriving as well and post the results.
Thanks for asking the question! :liebe011:

 

I believe that I have this. It's not like anything I've ever smelled from fungal/bacterial problems, and it's not coolant or anything. I suspect it'll go away before too long, but if I still have it at the end of the month I'll shoot it to the dealer. It's not a terrible odor, and the leather overpowers it anyway.

 

QUOTE (PeterJ @ Jun 1 2010, 07:33 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=328424

I had the same problem with the smell coming from the vents even when the ac wasnt on...
The problem for me went away after a weeks. I bought my self one of those clip on scent things and put it on one of the vents to decrease the odor.. But yea I think it goes away after a while.. Now I dont smell anything besides Cucumber Melon

No Melon for me, no 'New Car Smell', as scents will hurt your Car in the long run. I love the Lemon, but these smells get in the Vents and

never go away. Although it will be 114 here next Week, I always dry out my A/C. Oh and no Smoking! :banana:

 

QUOTE (MiamiLX @ Jun 1 2010, 03:44 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=328521

No Melon for me, no 'New Car Smell', as scents will hurt your Car in the long run. I love the Lemon, but these smells get in the Vents and

never go away. Although it will be 114 here next Week, I always dry out my A/C. Oh and no Smoking! :banana:

I'm DYING to hear why scents can hurt the car in the long run? are you saying I'm going to blow my head gasket on my Acura Legend again because it doesn't like my pina colada tree freshener?? :laughing:

 

Yes I am saying that, plus Pina Colada Car freshener might cause cancer. In fact they all might, especially Banana :banana: :banana:

 

QUOTE (MiamiLX @ Jun 1 2010, 04:14 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=328535

Yes I am saying that, plus Pina Colada Car freshener might cause cancer. In fact they all might, especially Banana :banana: :banana:

well its a **** good thing I threw that pina colada one out yesterday and replaced it with a "taco bell inspired poop scented" one! :wacko:


and btw....LIFE can give u cancer..the air we breathe (especially in NYC) can give u cancer......if I was worried about cancer, I wouldn't leave my house!

 

I heard Taco Bell might cause cancer!

 

I have a new 2010 Sonata (now 4000 miles). I've been noticing an annoying petroleum smell coming from vents -- it doesn't seem to make much difference whether AC is on or off. So I find myself driving as much as possible with the windows (and sunroof) open to avoid it.

My husband first noticed this odor a few months ago after we'd just bought it. Especially when idling and with AC on. Now I smell it almost all the time (intermittently). But I can't seem to figure out a pattern as to when it smells more, and when less. Seems very sporadic and not based on anything.

It's a sort of fresh gas fume/petroleumish odor. Sickly sweet. But I've never overfilled the tank, to the best of my knowledge.

And it's pretty much smelled like this since we took it off the dealer's lot. Bought it at only 53 miles.

Any idea what to do? If it continues to bother me I think I'll take it to the dealer. (I've already been back once, for my first oil change but I didn't mention it then, as suddently didn't seem important to mention). But I can already hear them saying "we can't find anything wrong; we can't find any odor, what's the problem." Seems pointless to take it in just for that.

I did think the car had a strange "new car" smell ever since I first brought it home, not your typical new car smell. But it didn't really register what it smelled like till my husband said something. Now I agree.

I don't like it. It's the only thing about this car I don't like; I'm otherwise very happy with it! Could it be dangerous to one's health?

My previous car (a Jetta) kept its very pleasant "new car smell" its whole life! I miss it.

Is this a Hyundai problem or some industry-wide new problem with cars??? If just Hyundai, it is reason enough for me to never buy one again, which is sad because I really do like the car otherwise.

 

You might want to post in the 2010 Sonata Forum (4G) but no this is not normal and could be dangerous

 

I have a smell coming out of the vents when first started on a hot day. It smells a little like spray paint.

 

I have the same Odor issue

"vinegar/alcohol/sour odor: - that is a good way to describe it. I was told that is smells like bad cheese and deal animals in the ac!!!

My 2011 Sonata has had the same issue from day one. This is not just an "annoyance" for me as it gives me a head ache!!! It is also embracing when I have other people driving in the car with me. I actually try not to use the ac when someone else is in the car.

I took the car to the dealer a couple of times for this with not luck. The first time the dealer said that this is normal and "I should read the user manual". In my opinion, this was a stupid comment from the service guy. The second time the service manager was nice enough to try to deodorize the ac. This did not work very well either. The car smelled like a bad perfume for a couple of days and then it went back to its normal terrible smell. This issue happens a lot but it is worst when switching from ac to normal vent or when you start ac first.

I don't think the dealers have a solution for this and I think Hyundai should step up and find a way fix this issue. Wy wife has 2010 Hyundai and before this issue, we were telling everyone that Sonata is the best car for the money. However, if Hyundai does not do something about this, this will be the last Sonata we will every buy.

Someone on the forum mentioned to turn off the ac 1 minute before we get to the destination. Thanks for that suggestion and I will try it out. However, I am not sure if condensation is the issue, why is it that my wife's 2010 Sonata does not have this problem, and my newer 2011 has had this issue from day one! Also, the worst time we notice this issue is when we have ac on and after it gets too cold for the kids, we switch to normal air (no ac).

As you can tell from this e-mail, I am bit frustrated with Hyundai right now as nobody should put up with this - specially in a new car from day 1. I am not even sure if the odor is safe as it has strong chemical smell to it.

Thanks,

R.S.

 

There are all sorts of gross smells you can get from the A/C (moldy/mildew smell, even something like BO). If you think about it it's understandable how it can happen, you've got this dark, wet A/C evaporator which has has outside air going through it all the time. Turning off the A/C a bit before shutting off the vehicle seems to help, as otherwise it may not ever really dry out.

There are some deodorizing/disinfecting treatments you can do to get rid of the A/C smell, but I think they tend to be the kind of thing that needs to be sprayed right onto the evaporator core. Stuff that just gets sprayed into the vents may only cover up the smell for a short time.

 

The only fix is to remove the cabin air filter, start the engine with the doors open and put the blower on high. Spray Lysol into the opening where the filter goes.
That will kill the mildew smell. Make sure that you spray enough in there to do the job.
That's the only way to get rid of the smell. Spraying into the outside fresh air intake doesn't work.
Make sure that the drain on the underside of the vehicle is operating and dripping water when the A/C is on. If you have a manual system, make sure that you use outside air except when first cooling down. Keeping the system on re-circulate causes the mildew. There is no need to shut the system off a minute prior to getting out of the car.

 

Keeping the system on re-circulate causes the mildew.
There is no need to shut the system off a minute prior to getting out of the car.

No it doesn't. The mold/mildew grows at the same rate regardless; the smell might be worse with recirc. though because of less fresh air.

And while there is no "need" to turn the air off for a short time before stopping it DOES help.

 

Could be a leak

 

A leak of what?

 

just to re-iterate, other manufactures have this issue as well. our odyssey had this pretty much from the get go as well. it was the drain tray...it didn't drain the condensed water away. it stayed in the tray...and it started smelling. after a couple of years with no luck at the dealership...all the suggestions above, the charcoal cabin filter, the sprays...etc...nothing ever fixed it permanently. finally, i took it to a long time friend in the auto repair (body shop) business, told him about it...and a few days later, he fixed it.

he got to the tray, drilled a hole, connected surgical tubing and routed it down below the car. that was the only way we got it rid of it. i didn't ask...didn't see....and didn't care....all i knew was it worked.

 

just to re-iterate, other manufactures have this issue as well. our odyssey had this pretty much from the get go as well. it was the drain tray...it didn't drain the condensed water away. it stayed in the tray...and it started smelling. after a couple of years with no luck at the dealership...all the suggestions above, the charcoal cabin filter, the sprays...etc...nothing ever fixed it permanently. finally, i took it to a long time friend in the auto repair (body shop) business, told him about it...and a few days later, he fixed it.

he got to the tray, drilled a hole, connected surgical tubing and routed it down below the car. that was the only way we got it rid of it. i didn't ask...didn't see....and didn't care....all i knew was it worked.

This is the cause of the stink. Drain hose partially plugged up.

Dealer should have known this....and how to fix it.
.

.

 

In the UK we use a special anti bacterial aerosol that you use by changing cabin filter if required then set controls to recirculate and all vents. Then position aerosol on the floor behind the passenger seat.
Put fan to full, AC on engine idling set off aerosol which sprays for 10 mins with all doors closed.
When finished, ventilate vehicle before driving.
This leaves the car smelling nice and fresh.
Comma do a good one.
You probably already know this... Chris

 

It easily reaches 100 outside and 120+ in a vehicle quickly in the South. I'd get rid of a car if the only option was sweaty balls or bad car smell.

 

LOL, same here. I use my a/c sometimes till November.