Never had this issue with any of my cars. I always turn AC off at least few minutes before turning the car off and set the fans to full blast to recirculate the air. In my experience it's a good preventative measure.

 

I think what contributes to this is washing the car, and then letting it sit without driving it soon.

I've got a bit of it going now and it didn't start until one day I washed it and then it started raining and I pulled it into the garage without it getting air dried - then didn't drive it for a day. Now a bit of smell. Maybe the trick is drive and vent immediately after a wash and clean up.

 

Hey guys, i'm starting to get that ac, smell...... awhhh mannnnn....

 

I think it always has a brief hit of humidity and lite smell when you had your AC on then turn it off keeping fans working. But it should not be anything bad, not like rotten eggs or anything else smelling like decaying organic matter. You should have no smell if AC was not on at all, or if AC was on from the beginning.

As of reasons - most common is when your AC drain pipe develops tendency to keep some standing water in it, so, essentially it is mold. To get rid of it, well, only efficient cure against any mold is concentrated bleach. Worst care scenario - take apart all air pipes and get access to AC. Or you can try to use those aerosols into air intake while system is set to recycle cabin air but they are mostly cosmetic IMHO and definitely do not have any bleach plus no one will recommend to spray bleach into cabin air - it will obviously kill interior.

Or it may be just junk somewhere in the system, essentially to clean it out you still need get access to it, not an impossible task, but may take considerable time to take it all apart.

 

thanks utkinpol, you always have a good answer.....

 

thanks utkinpol, you always have a good answer.....