A few weeks ago I noticed my van having a weird smell. Two days ago I removed my seats and vacummed all the carpet and all the seats. I also cleaned the windows and all the plastic pieces inside the van. Everything was cleaned.

Since I cleaned everything, the weather has been nice. No need for heat, no need for AC. As a result I didn't have the fans on. Also, no smell!

Today I decided to turn my AC on for the first time of the season and that weird smell returned. I guess the smell only happens when I have the fans on. It's not a repulsive smell, but it is unpleasant. Any ideas?

 

It could be a dead rodent inside the heater box?

 

It doesn't smell like that. It's not an awful smell, it's just not pleasant. One of those car air freshener trees will mask the scent so it's not that bad.

 

You have mold and mildew built up in your evaporator core. Get yourself a can of Lysol spray, turn on the fan and spray the Lysol into the fresh air intake grill at the wiper cowl. Do this every day for 2-3 days and the problem should go away.

 

Does it smell like fresh mulch or something like that? Same thing happens to me only when the fans are on. Ill try the lysol though.

 

Yeah, that's kind of the scent.

 

I did that yesterday and kept the vents on full blast. I had the van running for about 20 minutes after spraying. I also kept the windows open. Today there was no bad odor, only the faint smell of whatever scent Lysol I sprayed yesterday. Thanks for the tip!

 

You're welcome.

 

you might want to see if your van is equipped with a "cabin air filter" as well..............mine is located under the glove box area locked in by a sliding lcok