Mold smell removed
 

My Fit started smelling like mold every time I turned on the AC.

So, I got a can of BG Frigi-Fresh, followed the directions, and problem solved. Now the car had a frigi-fresh smell, though it was slowly starting to diminish, so I bought a new cabin air filter and installed it.

Perfect results.

This was after 12K miles, so I assume I'll probably have to do this every year...

I've started turning off the AC within a couple minutes of my destination in order to hopefully prevent this problem from happening again!

FYI - Smell came back after around a week.

So, bought some 1Z Klima Cleaner and will be doing that application this weekend. Will report back after a couple of weeks.

Be sure to leave the recirculate selector on "fresh air" when you park it. This allows the A/C coil to dry out. Leaving it on recirculate traps the moisture condensed on the A/C coil and this will grow mildew.

The cabin filter is another source of odors, that's what I would have changed first too.

Yeah, I always use fresh air. I also started turning off the AC and cranking up the fan to dry off the AC components during the last portion of my trip.

My 10 year old Honda Civic never had this problem... so something has changed in the design to make the Fit more prone to this sort of problem

I don't have this problem in mine (and we're in the same neck of the woods...).

I did notice it getting pretty stinky a year ago after the pine pollen exploded. Changing the cabin filter cleared this right up.

I park mine in a garage. Maybe you have excessive "tree dirt" in your intake. The other possibility is someone left you a present. I'd be removing the cowling and try to clean out underneath.

I'm pretty sure it's mold ;)

I keep my car garaged as well.

I noticed it last year after 8000 miles, but then fall came and I stopped using the AC and the smell stopped. As soon as I started it up again this year, the same bitter mold smell is back. Now I've got 12000 miles on the car.

I'll report back after the treatment, and after a week to make sure it sticks.

Well, after a trip to Florida and back, still looking good with no smell. Hopefully it will last :)

how do you remove the cowling?

Just this past week or two my Fit has started to smell moldy also. Living in S. Texas AC is mandatory! I have 62,800 miles on my Fit and this is the first I've come across this issue. Maybe it's due to the recent, constant rain we've been getting?

I go ~10 months between scheduled maintenance (thanks Maintenance Minder!) so maybe I should start by changing the in cabin air filter? Any other advice?