[Ramirez21]

Hello,
I have owned my 2022 MDX A-spec for 7 months now and have been enjoying it quite well. One thing I have noticed is that this car loves to hold water in its cracks and crevices like a mother. So while giving it a car wash she likes to leak water after being dry and its a little annoying until I get a air compressor to push all the water out.
Recently, I have noticed that when turning on the a/c the vents give off a musty smell like wet clothes. Its kind of awful. Not sure if the cabin air filter needs replacing because of water is sitting or what is happening?
Not sure if anyone is experiencing the same thing??
Any thoughts.

 

[datechboss101]

Hit the air vents with steam. It should at least kill most of that smell.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[Ramirez21]

Hit the air vents with steam. It should at least kill most of that smell.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

Thanks I will try that.

 

[md2069]

Thanks I will try that.

You probably need a new cabin air filter………

 

[E92Vancouver]

Hello,
I have owned my 2022 MDX A-spec for 7 months now and have been enjoying it quite well. One thing I have noticed is that this car loves to hold water in its cracks and crevices like a mother. So while giving it a car wash she likes to leak water after being dry and its a little annoying until I get a air compressor to push all the water out.
Recently, I have noticed that when turning on the a/c the vents give off a musty smell like wet clothes. Its kind of awful. Not sure if the cabin air filter needs replacing because of water is sitting or what is happening?
Not sure if anyone is experiencing the same thing??
Any thoughts.

Are you using the air conditioner once in a while? Sometimes the evaporator collects water from the condensate that sits on the coils. Run the heat on high with high fan for a few minutes (with the air con off) to dry out the evaporator.

 

[mrgold35]

There should be drain holes that drip on the ground under the MDX around the same area near the A/C and heater unit. You should see a puddle of clear water in that area on a hot humid day of running the A/C. The drain plug sometimes gets clogged up and water backs up causing the smell. I can't think of another reason for brand new MDX to have this issue so soon.

 

[tamber877]

this has happened to me on a few occasions. sometimes it has smelled like vinegar, too. usually goes away after a few minutes, but in the mean time, it's kinda nasty LOL the first time I noticed it I had had the car for 2 months, left it sit for a week while I was on vacation, hubby drove it to the airport to pick me up, the next day when I drove it the smell was overwhelming (along with it taking FOREVER for the a/c to start cooling). since then, it's very sporadic...I've had the car 7 months and it still happens occasionally.

 

[Ramirez21]

There should be drain holes that drip on the ground under the MDX around the same area near the A/C and heater unit. You should see a puddle of clear water in that area on a hot humid day of running the A/C. The drain plug sometimes gets clogged up and water backs up causing the smell. I can't think of another reason for brand new MDX to have this issue so soon.

Thank you I will take a look.

 

[Ramirez21]

this has happened to me on a few occasions. sometimes it has smelled like vinegar, too. usually goes away after a few minutes, but in the mean time, it's kinda nasty LOL the first time I noticed it I had had the car for 2 months, left it sit for a week while I was on vacation, hubby drove it to the airport to pick me up, the next day when I drove it the smell was overwhelming (along with it taking FOREVER for the a/c to start cooling). since then, it's very sporadic...I've had the car 7 months and it still happens occasionally.

Yessss. So it’s not just me then. That’s exactly what happens.

 

[smokey_mountain]

I have been away from MDX and MDXers for 15 years and really like what Acura has done in 2022. Great-looking vehicle. I am doing my research on what problems I might encounter if any. I would like to help, I have dealt with smelly HVAC issue for several years on Toyota. What I found that this is a result of an efficiency-design that keeps the fresh air recirculate damper fully closed to reduce demand for cooling. Less AC more miles per gallon, helps with EPA numbers. However, of course there is a cost to that, the evaporator coil never dries completely, as most of the time car is shutoff with fresh air damper in full closed, leaving evaporator box wet to grow mold. Dark and moist... We know what grows in dark and moist.
Best course of action to fix it is to approach a dealer and/or Acura and request that they re-program the Recirculate damper to remain few mm open even in fully closed position, not very likely you would get them to do it, but it is more of a permanent solution. I had to buy a programmer cable to re-program my Toyota ECU to open before shutting down the engine. Very involved and will void the warranty so I do not endorse it on this brand new vehicle.
Temp solution - buy an AC evaporator disinfecting foam that you need to run through the drain tube from under the vehicle and spray foam into the box. It works for 1-2 months at best but it will come back unless you manually open the Recirculate every time before you shut off the engine.
Lastly never leave the truck in the garage with windows up, crack them down, you would think it is silly but it works as it accelerates air movement in the cabin. This is all about air movement to dry the HVAC.

Hope I am helping, but do talk to the dealer and have them acknowledge it in writing, mold is not benign, we breath this air in the car.

 

[greggebhardt]

I had a Ford truck that used to have the same smell. Would shoot about 2 seconds worth of Lysol in the air intake between the hood and windshield for about a week. I got lazy and quit doing it but the musty smell never came back.

 

[smokey_mountain]

Good suggestion, Lysol is effective for some vehicles, it was never a permanent fix for my Toyota but it does work for some. Make sure you do not inhale Lysol in any form especially directly. Lysol is cheaper too. Specialized evaporator cleaner is quite a bit more https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007PHD0S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[brian_tii]

One suggestion that's worked for our Pilot is to use the best cabin filter you can find. OEM is typically "good" but may not filter as well as some of the better ones. So basically Lysol it out as smokey_mountain mentioned but then swap in one of these filters that claims filtration that includes mold and bacteria protection.

The Wix XP's and the Bosch filters seem to do the trick. Has solved the problem in our Pilot now for years... thankfully.

HEPA Cabin Filters | Bosch Auto Parts

Bosch Cabin Air Filters are designed and tested to meet High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) standards.

www.boschautoparts.com

 

[LP4242]

For severe case, you can buy an ozone generator locally or online. Read the instructions carefully: ozone irritates and harms your air passageways and lungs. It's really bad for you. Probably bad for everything in the car, too, as ozone is very reactive: follow instructions, don't leave it sitting in the car for too long, and air the car out completely before use.

Got rid of severe case of musty stink in an RSX I used to have. Didn't cause any damage I could notice.

 

[ErikaH]

Hello,
I have owned my 2022 MDX A-spec for 7 months now and have been enjoying it quite well. One thing I have noticed is that this car loves to hold water in its cracks and crevices like a mother. So while giving it a car wash she likes to leak water after being dry and its a little annoying until I get a air compressor to push all the water out.
Recently, I have noticed that when turning on the a/c the vents give off a musty smell like wet clothes. Its kind of awful. Not sure if the cabin air filter needs replacing because of water is sitting or what is happening?
Not sure if anyone is experiencing the same thing??
Any thoughts.

I’m going thru the same thing with my 2022 ASPEC MDX. I’m taking it in tomorrow because it’s become unbearable. It’s been going on for about three months but has not been consistent until the past couple weeks. I live in FL and it was so bad yesterday that I turned the air off and rolled the windows down. It’s 100 degrees.

Has anyone taken their car in to the dealer and had success ?

 

[TexasBlueAspec]

The only time I get the musky smell is when the auto stop/start kicks in. When the car is at idle and the AC stops, it immediately starts getting warm and smells. By the time the car restarts and starts getting cold again, I would be annoyed by the smell. I did change the cabin filter assuming it could be drawing dirty air , but in fact with a new one, it still continued with a new filter for days (with stop/start). That would leave me to believe it’s definitely the coil getting too moist. I also went under the car to confirm the drains were clear and leaking water out. As far as I can see there are two drain hoses. One is far up front and one for the rear 2nd row seat.

I disable the stop/start or run AC on full so it never shuts the car off. I have used the outside air sometimes to help with shut down to dry it out but I don’t always remember. On bmw forums , they have recommended to dial the cooling back just a few min before arriving, and if extremely smelly , then use the foam spray as others have mentioned. I have a $1000 ozone machine large enough for a house that I sometimes use to refresh the bmw, but have not used it on the MDX yet because it hasn’t come back since I started disabling stop/start.

 

[TexasBlueAspec]

I’m going thru the same thing with my 2022 ASPEC MDX. I’m taking it in tomorrow because it’s become unbearable. It’s been going on for about three months but has not been consistent until the past couple weeks. I live in FL and it was so bad yesterday that I turned the air off and rolled the windows down. It’s 100 degrees.

Has anyone taken their car in to the dealer and had success ?

Not sure what the dealer charges for a cabin filter change but it is pretty easy to do. I’m sure that will be the first thing they recommend.

The video link shows how easy it is to change it yourself. Also, I believe the auto part stores are finally carrying a part number that works. When I first bought the car, the only number was the Acura/Honda part number. Now there are more confirmed part numbers to use . The budget PN# contains 2 filters . So you can change it more frequently say in 6month intervals to help with the smell of you get a lot of dirt coming in.

 

[2022A-Spec]

I am having the same issue. It is a unique smell that started a few weeks ago. Going to the dealer next week for service and I planned on asking them. Also, have an issue with the windows fogging up in the winter with the heat on auto. That would indicate moisture to me so I wonder if it’s related?

 

[ErikaH]

Not sure what the dealer charges for a cabin filter change but it is pretty easy to do. I’m sure that will be the first thing they recommend.

The video link shows how easy it is to change it yourself. Also, I believe the auto part stores are finally carrying a part number that works. When I first bought the car, the only number was the Acura/Honda part number. Now there are more confirmed part numbers to use . The budget PN# contains 2 filters . So you can change it more frequently say in 6month intervals to help with the smell of you get a lot of dirt coming in.

It was definitely the cabin filter.I took it to the dealer and they said they didn’t smell anything but ran an odor reducer through the vents. When I picked it up I smelled it immediately. I drive it back around and got a manger. They had but changed the cabin filter so he did and didn’t charge me. I could immediately tell a difference.

 

[2022A-Spec]

It was definitely the cabin filter.I took it to the dealer and they said they didn’t smell anything but ran an odor reducer through the vents. When I picked it up I smelled it immediately. I drive it back around and got a manger. They had but changed the cabin filter so he did and didn’t charge me. I could immediately tell a difference.

Cool. I’ll ask on Monday