A/C Smells like fresh mulch

Have 1800 miles on 08' and for the first couple of minutes there is a sickly smell coming out of A/C vents. Smells exactly like fresh ripe mulch. At first I thought that I was pulling in the smell from landscaped lawns - afterall it is spring here and there is a lot of it around. It however isn't coming from well manicured properties. Is this the smell that others are describing as moldy/ mildewy or is this something else. I've read all the suggestions about how to minimize a/c evaporator mold buildup. It isn't even that humid here and my wife and I mostly defeat the auto/ac feature and i usually turn off the A/C altogether at least for now - not that hot hear in philly area. Is turning the A/C and auto feature of climate control off contributing to this ?

Kind of disappointing to think that there may already be some incurable chronic problem with unwanted organic material in my green car. Never had this before in any car - my brother had a similar problem in a 89' olds delta that he never got rid of. I'm not happy about having to do a special ritual - ie. run the defroster before turning off my new $26000 vehicle with only 1800 miles on it but please tell me that this will do the trick and I'll reluctantly do it.

 

The car is 4 weeks old - why would you suspect this - does it matter - I think the dealer got the car in february 08. I took delivery 2 week of march.

 

I do definitely do have mice inside my garage in the winter but that's why I don't park my cars in there. I made the mistake of parking my son's Fordr in there over the winter where it sat without being driven all winter. It had dropping inside on the seats.

Come to think of it, I have found seeds and other signs of mouse habitat sitting on top of my other car's manifold. That car doesn't ever go into the garage. Those little meeces must have left the comfort of the garage like little heat seeking missles and climbed up the wheels and onto the warm engine block. I hadn't seen anything like that lately however. They usually leave in the spring and summer and come back when it gets cold but who the hell knows. I have six cats inside my house but they are indoor cats. Well they still have all their claws though. I'm sure they'd love to have a go at spending the night in my garage. If I find any signs of mice in my prius I don't care what my wife says, I'm sending my two fastest cats (griffin and little cloud) out there on guard duty.

Cyberprius ... I know you've had mice problems - where do you find them nesting in your prius ? Do they make their way into the air filter air ? Have you found dropping (eeeek....) inside the cabin of your prius ? Where should I look ?



Thanks.

 

I tried to attach a picture of griffin and little cloud with my profile - not sure if worked until I post this reply.

 

OK I should have done attachments - here's 4 of my 6 cats - griffin is red, little cloud is grey and white on the right. I put up one of my dogs - didn't put up the golden retriever - I know he'd be useless at mousing as will the bernese mountain dog but he's really handsome.

 

Thanks Hill - Patrick wasn't offended by my questioning him. I wasn't sure where he was going with his suggestion and I was in no way trying to be disrepectful. The poster that replied to my questioning Patrick with an attitude was surprising.

Those that are so attached to a mental position and the need to be right are confused about who they truly are. The need to be right and defend their mental positions shows how much they are intrinsically connected to their ideas. To be wrong is to experience a loss of self. They are totally out of touch with anything deeper. Their ego has created a false identity for themselves. That false sense of self is supported when they can make someone else wrong, be in a constant state of judgement and labeling everything they experience. They view themselves as separate from everyone and all that is. They've lost a sense of connectedness. If they could remember who they were before they were any of the many roles they believe themselves to be .. a father/mother, christian/jew/muslim, prius owner, lawyer,doctor, teacher, son or daughter..... they'd probably reconnect with who they truly are and realize that they are not different than most all other forms on the planet. They could then stop defending the false sense of self - the ego.