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Fishy Smell While with A/C?!?!?!

10K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Frango100 
#1 · (Edited)
Just moments ago, I cranked my WK and as soon as it turned over, I heard a noise that sounded like water coming from the A/C vents. The A/C was on when the WK was cranked.

It sounded like water hitting a fan. A/C still blows cold but immediately after the noise came a wry bad fishy smell that sticks in your nose.

What's going on?

Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
Not sure. Could be a bunch of different things that could be causing that. I had a car with a design flaw that would let water enter the fresh air intake grille - causing water to get into the blower motor.

Perhaps have dealer check into that for you. Wouldn't want anything like that to be an issue for too long. As you know, damp places are the perfect breeding grounds for certain things.

Smell could be coming from the cabin filter that could be dirty/wet?
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply.

It most certainly sounded like something busted when I cranked the WK. Is there anything I can look for to trouble shoot?

I'm looking up "fishy smell ac vents" on Google and I'm seeing a lot of things about the heater core.
 
#4 ·
I would check the air inlet and check if there are no leaves or other dirt blocking the area or blocking the water drain holes. An other item would be checking the HVAC housing drain, which ends in the engine bay.
 
#5 ·
Ok. I have no idea where to check for all of this stuff though. I honestly don't see how this would be the cause of pouring water sound and fishy/chemical smell coming from the vents.

I will also add that I was idling for a while with A/C on before turning the WK off. Then all of this started after cranked it about 2 hours later.

I do sit I'm my Jeep with A/C while idle every once in a while.
 
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#6 ·
So now that I'm smelling it more and more, it's smelling like old stale/sitting water. Very very strong.

I just got off early from work and I'm about to go in the garage and look at the intake.
 
#7 ·
You may also have a badly plugged drain, either in the a/c heater itself or in your hood air intake. I don't recall if your model has a built in drain tube for the a/c plenum or if one has to be installed by a dealer.

A busted heater core should show up as coolant loss, plus unless your coolant is really really old or someone substituted fish sauce, not that likely.

Once you find the culprit, you will probably want to get one of the stronger foam type flushes for the a/c plenum, FrigiFreeze is a bit tame compared to some of the stuff A/C shops and dealers have available.

For the underhood area, try pouring water and see if it comes out at full rate from the drains. If not, it usually works better to declog from underneath so you don't poke anything loose. You can plug the outlet temporarily and pour in a couple bottles of cheap hydrogen peroxide and let it set a while to clean out anything there. Or, you can plug the outlets, cut up some of those denture cleaner tablets and drop them down the drain, then fill with water and let that set overnight.

Cleaning the A/C plenum is to put it mildly, a pita you might want to think about farming out to an A/C shop.
 
#9 ·
So I watched a couple of videos of clogged WK evaporator drains and these guys had water building up on the carpet and none dripping underneath.

My carpet is dry and I have water steadily dripping underneath.

What next?
 
#10 ·
Well the cabin filter wont be underneath bro. Its up under the cowling on the passengers side. Under the plastic where the right wiper is. Ill get a pic for you later bro.
 
#11 ·
I know that. I've checked under there a few times already. There is a little door back in there that opens up. The fan sits right under that door.

Thanks for the help.
 
#12 ·
Hey bro. I circled where the cabin filter is located. Its under the plastic. This is where the air comes into the ac system from outside.



Land vehicle Vehicle Engine Auto part Car


This is off my 08.
 
#13 ·
Just check the drain under the dash. No signs of water building up in there.

The only scenario I can think of is something some way some how crawled in the duct and got chopped up by the fan. :lol:

It literally smells like something died in my A/C duct system.
 
#14 ·
Just check the drain under the dash. No signs of water building up in there.

The only scenario I can think of is something some way some how crawled in the duct and got chopped up by the fan. :lol:

It literally smells like something died in my A/C duct system.
Idk bro. The fan dont look like it hit anything but still. Its possible.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Looking into the inlet again, I sprinkled a little bit of Febreeze Extra Strength in there, walked around and hopped inside. Smell pretty nice. That's when I got an idea.

So I took everything apart again. The brown stuff on the fan is what was giving off the bad smell.

I cleaned the fan and the fan's housing.







The smell is almost completely gone now. I'm sure there is more to clean up inside the duct but I'm not sure how to take it all apart yet for a good cleaning. It's much better than before and almost none existent.

I really think my blower fan acted as a blender to something today.
 
#16 ·
If the blower motor chopped whatever it was in pieces, then most probably the remaining parts are now laying against the evaporator, since all air will have to go through there.
 
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