Musty Smell in my car..
 

Hey, i need some help here.. Ever since i got my car it's had a musty smell in it. I have shampooed the carpets and seats. i know it's not my floors or seats because i have gotten down on all fours smellin everywhere to find something, but nothing.

But i now think that it's coming from my vents. I bought this stuff from the hardware store for 8 bucks, which u spray in there.. it helped a bit for like 2 days, but now its back.. Any ideas how to clean out whatever it is?? Also, i get alot of debris that comes from my front vents that goes onto the dashboard, really annoying... it has to be something there...

please help.. any suggested will be appreciated..

mildew?
 

I've had intermittent problems w/ a musty smell too coming from the air vents as well... i read somewhere that mazda had done a factory recall of some of the 9x models of proteges due to mildew in the air ducting system... maybe that's the problem you're having... also, i had a really bad case of the stink when the washer fluid (of all things!) went bad -- the smell from that tends to vent right into the car.

Hope this helps.

------------------------------------------------------
'97 protege LX
no mods other than tint and foglights (yet)

Interesting.. i will check that out (washer fluid).. But this recall thing sound interesting.. I will have to find out more about that...

Anyone know any more details about that recall.. i will research it now.

I can't seem to find anything stable. But from what it looks like it's the a/c in the protege's.. But i dont' have a/c. U think i might still be effected??


http://www.alldata.com/TSB/33/98333067.html

I had the same problem in an old Honda Civic.
I got a can of lysol. Attached one of the skinny red straws that commonly come on cans of wd40.
I had a friend stick the straw through the vent inlet system between the windshield and the hood.
Told them to start spraying and don't quit until I say stop.
I pointed the vents down, turned the fan on to high and worked through all the vent settings(hi, low, hi/low, defrost etc). Also worked it through the entire temperature range, fresh air/recirculate, and AC on and off.
The entire venting system got lysol bombed
The car smelled like a clean toilet for two days but it died down and the mildew smell never came back.

During particualrly wet winters I buy a box of Arm & Hammer baking soda at Wal Mart that was made for absorbing odors...it has "vents" with filters on the sides of the box...you never actually open the box, air is able to pass through the vents but baking soda stays in. Keeps the car odor free but doesn't smell like you're trying to cover dead fish smell.

I had a gen 2 for a while and didn't have A/C but the recall still aplied. You might want to call your local Mazda dealer and find out if the recall applies to you.

Called Mazda.
 

The service guy i spoke to had no idea about any recalls. So i will have to find some more details.
Yesturday i was trying to find out where it was coming from, and i noticed that there is a vent where it takes the air from, that is just under the hood, near the wipers. We tested it by spraying in that Air Freshner thing until i could smell it inside. I think it might help, temporarily but i am wondering if anyone knows if there is some type of filter that i between the vents and the intake from the outside. (for straight air from outside). I have a feeling that the filter between is rotting and that's why i am getting debris inside and the musty smell inside the car.
Does anyone have a shop manual for this car that could help me find out and replace it, or even take it off??

Thanks for any input.