# Musty smell from vents... AC drain line clogged?



## aubstjohn (Nov 6, 2018)

With the weather turning warmer, we noticed our Atlas having a musty/mildew smell coming from the vents. I’ve read where turning off the AC and running the fan on high can clear the air box of that residual moisture that evidently isn’t drying. But I also wanted to check the AC drain line to see if it’s clogged. Anyone checked this? Any ideas or ways we can prevent this if the line is clear?


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## Jmbbabson (Oct 18, 2018)

i had asked my old dealer this on my old car ('11 maxima, what i drove before getting my atlas) and they said there's not a great way to prevent those from getting clogged other than trying to avoid parking under trees and clearing leaf debris from your car. even then, they said a common cause for drain lines to back up is actually spiders getting in there and spinning webs, which there's nothing you can do about.

i learned this the hard way when my drain lines backed up and the floor in front of my back seats became like a swimming pool. this was probably 6 or 7 years ago at this point and the car still smells musty whenever the weather reaches 70+ degrees outside.

my 2 cents - if you even think they might be getting backed up it's worth a trip to your shop/dealer to have them take 10 mins and blow some compressed air to clear the lines....just in case!


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

You can get this smell without the drain being clogged. If you are getting a puddle under your car when AC is running you are fine. Mine does this as well. Just smelled it this week as the weather was warming up. It typically goes away. Using a charcoal-coated cabin filter will help vs. the OE non-coated one. If it's really bad, you can always turn on your Atlas, turn on the ac, turn on fan to full, make sure recirc is off, and spray Lysol into the intake vents under the wipers on the cowl (open hood to access). This will get the Lysol into the system's plenum box where the smell is coming from. I've had this smell on almost every vehicle I've owned so not specific to the Atlas.


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## aubstjohn (Nov 6, 2018)

KarstGeo said:


> You can get this smell without the drain being clogged. If you are getting a puddle under your car when AC is running you are fine. Mine does this as well. Just smelled it this week as the weather was warming up. It typically goes away. Using a charcoal-coated cabin filter will help vs. the OE non-coated one. If it's really bad, you can always turn on your Atlas, turn on the ac, turn on fan to full, make sure recirc is off, and spray Lysol into the intake vents under the wipers on the cowl (open hood to access). This will get the Lysol into the system's plenum box where the smell is coming from. I've had this smell on almost every vehicle I've owned so not specific to the Atlas.


Thanks! I’ll give this a go. Our last Jeep did the same as well. 


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

Two things -- 

1) there is a recall on a relatively small number of cars because the AC drain tube may have been kinked during assembly at the factory, which could cause water to go where it shouldn't be and give you smells.

2) replace your factory cabin filter with a Mann FP 26 009 FreciousPlus Cabin Air Filter, which has (1) a filter element, (2) activated charcoal (for odors), and (3) a bio-functional coating (to trap allergens). I had a musty AC smell once this spring and put one in our Atlas and haven't had any smells since.


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