ASK THE EXPERT

Q: When I turn on my car’s air conditioner, it smells like dirty gym socks. What gives and how can I get rid of the odor?

A: The culprit is mildew growing in the air conditioner’s evaporator core. The quick and easy way to prevent the odor is to turn off the a/c when you’re about a mile away from your destination and just run the fan. That will dry out the system, eliminating the moisture that bacteria thrives on.

You can spray a deodorizer like Lysol into the vent, but it most likely won’t reach far enough into the system to actually eradicate what’s growing there and solve the problem long term.

If those options don’t solve the problem, a professional mechanic can bathe the core with a specially formulated spray that will protect your system from fungus for a longer period of time.