Okay, y'all, I have a question that I think I know the answer to, but i would like everyone's input.

I have a 2-door 1996 Sunfire SE. I have noticed for the past year or so that after it rains (not immediately after, but usually 2 days or so after), the car smells mildewy. I bought some of that spray A/C cleaner stuff to spray in the exterior A/C intakes and the inside vents while the car is on and running the A/C, but it didn't seem to do too much. I park my car in my garage at home, but we've been getting some monsoon-like rains here in Houston the past few weeks, and at work, our office has a parking lot with no covered spots. So, when it rains hard, my car gets good and wet. On the days that it is raining, I never notice the smell. It seems to take 2 days or so to appear. I suspect I have a leak, but I can't find anything obvious, and the fact that it seems to delay 2 days or so seems oddish to me.

Any thoughts? I would appreciate y'all's suggestions. Thanks!

Probably takes about that long for the mildew organisms to grow enough to make you notice the smell. Try Lysol in the cowl vents with the A/C set to anything but the max/recirculate setting.

i have the same isue,..i just blow the ac and spray febreeze a lil.



scooba623@yahoo.com

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the Lysol this weekend. I've found that when I do get the mildewy smell, the Febreeze for autos works quite well (if you don't overdo it).

I have the same problem with my 92 Cavalier. I've determined it's not a plugged drain hose from the A/C condenser. What I noticed was that all over my firewall and around the bottom edges of the windshield is a sort of body putty or filler to cover seams in the sheet metal. The putty has seemed to have dried out over the years and has developed cracks in it. I've tried to remove as much of the old body putty as I could, and then replaced it with a bead of silicone caulk. This has fixed my problem. Hopefully you or someone you know has small hands. There are several areas behind the engine that are real pains to reach and fix. Hope it helps.

P.S. As far as fixing that mildew smell, I pulled back the front carpet as much as I could, and sprayed Lysol in there and let the whole thing dry before putting the carpet back down.

1: Turn on A/C to recirculate
2: Turn heat control to one click less than middle
3: Turn fan speed to 3
4: Watch as the car dehumidifies in a matter of minutes and stops reeking


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We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...