Vinegar-like smell

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Dclr

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Give Ozium a try. It's an inexpensive aerosol that eliminates the source of the odor rather than masking it. I found it very effective on eliminating cigarette smoke from a vehicle I purchased in the past.

Leaving the truck running with the A/C on high/recirculate, I fogged up the cab and walked away (doors and windows closed) for about 5-10 minutes. After a couple iterations of this and leaving the windows while parked outside during the day for a few days a week, the smell was completely gone.
 

Fozzy

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Are you sure you didn’t get some bad hand sanitizer?


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aggiegrad05

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Are you sure you didn’t get some bad hand sanitizer?


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Haha, yes. It was definitely a mold/mildew smell out of the vents. I had a 20 minute drive today and shut the a/c off and ran the fan on full blast. Seems to have corrected it. I guess we’ll find out next time I get in.
 

aggiegrad05

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This issue has never really gone away, still smells most mornings I get in.

Was at the dealer for oil change and tire rotation so I asked them to take a look. Cabin air filter is good and the condenser is draining as it’s supposed to. So they deodorized the system and said I should be good. Fingers crossed.

(My loaner is an EcoSport. Which is decidedly not the same thing as my Platinum Expi. Haha)
 

Bow512

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What about putting it on recirculate just before shutting it off? This way there are no open vents to the outside air. Not sure if this is how the system works but maybe worth a try.

Actually I think it’s the opposite that needs to happen. BMWs have an issue with this as well. I learned from my last one that when you’re running the AC on “auto” and it’s really hot and humid out it runs on recirculating mode most of the time. When you turn off the Vehicle while still in that mode, the moisture on the coils has nowhere to go (thus the moldy smell). I learned on mine to turn the ac completely off prior to shutting down the vehicle on the hot humid days and it 100% solved the problem as it moves the actuator back to pulling outside air in thus letting the moisture escape while sitting overnight.

If you have any Lysol, spray some where the filter goes with the air on to suck it down onto the coils and it should help clear it up as well.
 
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Squark

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I also get the vinegar smell when I first start the car (often, but not every time). I park in a garage that stays pretty hot in the summer. I changed the cabin air filter but it didn’t help much. I’ve had A/Cs smell like mildew, but this is distinctly more like vinegar. I’m curious if the dealer deodorizer helps.
 

Vipersinu2

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I will try and give that a shot
I will move the dial to fresh air b4 I shut off the truck.

My truck stinkes just like vinegar for the first 2 mins.

I hate it
 

aggiegrad05

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This issue has never really gone away, still smells most mornings I get in.

Was at the dealer for oil change and tire rotation so I asked them to take a look. Cabin air filter is good and the condenser is draining as it’s supposed to. So they deodorized the system and said I should be good. Fingers crossed.

(My loaner is an EcoSport. Which is decidedly not the same thing as my Platinum Expi. Haha)

The deodorization didn’t work. Oh well. At least they didn’t charge me for it.
 

Vipersinu2

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What i did on my mountaineer

I got scented bleach water mixed in a pump sprayer.

I found the ac drain line under the truck. I put the wand in the drain hose and pumped in the beach.
 

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