Smelly aircon

FTOnick · Post by **FTOnick** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:36 pm

My aircon has a rotten mouldy smell too it. How do i get the smell out of the system?

rock_it · Post by **rock_it** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:14 pm

This is what I did on my Cressida ...

1) Get a make-up brush (or paint brush) and use it to clean all the dust out off the a/c vent. The part that directs the flow/direction of the air.
2) Take the plastic bits off and maybe give a bit of a dust as far down as your hand can go (down the a/c duct).
3) Check to make sure the car is dumping the excess water through the return line. This can get full of dust and stuff, and may not drain.
4) Locate where the air intake is for when the car lets the atmospheric air come into the cabin and you can spray it with special air conditioning disinfectant while the fan is on and it is sucking in all the air through the system.
5) Check the cabin filters and stuff.
6) Spray normal air freshener (like Glen 20 disinfectant) through the front of the vents when the unit is off.

Hopefully that will get rid of any smell ...

That should do it....

TA · Post by TA » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:01 pm

is cold air still coming out?

FTOnick · Post by **FTOnick** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:15 pm

Yeah the aircon works good but it just stinks. By the way i have climate control

maggsy · Post by **maggsy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:02 pm

the air conditioning system has a drip tray that water builds up on, when the water falls onto the drip tray it then flows down through an overflow pipe and drips onto the road.

after not using the air-con for some time (that's usually the case anyway) the water that is in overflow pipe begins to go stagnant nd clogs the water from escaping.

because of this the drip tray will also go stagnant and mouldy and this is what causes the smell.

the smell is not the only thing that is bad, because the air which is blowing out is rotten i believe that it has some sort of toxin in it and it is possible to get sick from it.

hope that helps.

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:50 am

maggsy wrote:the air conditioning system has a drip tray that water builds up on, when the water falls onto the drip tray it then flows down through an overflow pipe and drips onto the road.

after not using the air-con for some time (that's usually the case anyway) the water that is in overflow pipe begins to go stagnant nd clogs the water from escaping.

because of this the drip tray will also go stagnant and mouldy and this is what causes the smell.

the smell is not the only thing that is bad, because the air which is blowing out is rotten i believe that it has some sort of toxin in it and it is possible to get sick from it.

hope that helps.

On the firewall behind the battery about 300mm down is a bent rubber pipe.
This is the drain from the air conditioner evaperator. Just pull it of and you then you can try some sort of spray to sterilise the tray inside.

Dave

FTOnick · Post by **FTOnick** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:29 am

Thanks for that. I havn't driven it hardly at all for a while so i will try to clean the drip tray. Is it easy to access? Can you post a picture of where it is?

Thanks

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:51 pm

FTOnick wrote:Thanks for that. I havn't driven it hardly at all for a while so i will try to clean the drip tray. Is it easy to access? Can you post a picture of where it is?

Thanks

No pics but just reach down behind the battery on the firewall and grab the first rubbery thing you find. It just pulls off. So if you can't pull it off easly then your pulling the wrong bit.

Dave

FTOnick · Post by **FTOnick** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:17 pm

i found the aircon drip, thanks for that

would you also be able to tell me where the aircon intake is?

cheers

Post by **Supplanter** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:01 pm

It is in the passenger footwell I think.

FTOnick · Post by **FTOnick** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:24 pm

I mean where does the air come in from outside the car when you dont have recycle air turned on?

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:53 pm

FTOnick wrote:I mean where does the air come in from outside the car when you dont have recycle air turned on?

I think it's the vents at the bottom of the windscreen. But thats not going to help you de-odorise the air con. If it's because of the dirty evaporater area then i think your best bet is squirting somthing in through that drain pipe.
Dave

Ther · Post by **Ther** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:55 pm

another easy fix, get some glen 20 , spray the air intake at the bottom of the passenger foot area, its on the right hand side. put the air on internal cycling and run it for a few minutes, the glen 20 will kill most bacteria that causes the smell