When I turn the air or fan on the air smells. Some friends say it still smells like cig smoke, I think it smells more like chemicals. I recently had to replace the cooling system and both the replacement and my quiting smoking happened at the same time so who knows. It’s just nasty. What to do?
First thing to do is check in your manual and find out if your vehicle has a “cabin air filter.” Many vehicles don’t, but if yours does changing will almost certainly help.
Second, I’ve not done this but have heard that it can work - the major intake for the air that comes into the car is a cowl that is usually just below the windshield - often a black plastic vented looking thing. Get a few cans of something like an air purifier/bacteria killing spray - not just an “air freshener” b/c those often just pump perfume around. You want something that works like Febreeze or Oust or even Lysol. Start up the car and turn the fan on high. Blow a bunch of this spray stuff thru the cowl (my own inclination would be to remove the cowl and put it back when done). Maybe get a bunch in there, shut the fan down for a while, let it sit, and turn the fan back on. Let it blow for a while to clear out the bulk of the spray stuff you sent in there.