What have any members found effective to put a stop to the very foul odor that comes from the ventilation system after the car has sat for a while in the sun on a hot day (2005 model. Run with A/C auto on most of the time)?
First, replace the cabin air filter. If that doesn't fix it, you may have mold growing on the heat exchanger. That would be a surprise though, because they put some sort of antimicrobial coating on it. It may even be silver, but just a wee thin layer. Common advice is to run the airflow for the last few minutes with the A/C off, to dry off those surfaces.
The foul odor is almsot definitly not the cabin air filter and probably not mold but the adhesives that are used to assemble the duct work for the air system. These adhesives are used because of their ability to operate in very hot or very cold conditions, environmentally or due to the air that is being circulated through them. Significant shifts in temperatures which the glues are exposed to cause them to emit smells until they reach nominal temperature. This will dissapate over time, but it isn't quick.
