asf4life

hwat u guys use to clean out the smell form the a/c i bought htis can of deodirizer from discount and it doesn do jack ****, plus they dont make an in cabin filter for my car, nor does the dealer sell the doderizer can

LiquidNine

I've tried many over the counter products to combat the A/C odor issue... it's mildew on the evap core. My local nissan dealership injects the area with an anti-fungal foam which is supposed to clean out the area entirely. Good Luck!

Ramius83

Go to your local Grocery store and purchase a can of the Blue Lysol, the regular disinfectant version. Turn on your car and turn on the A/C to full blast on Cold, with pulling in air. Then, around your windshield wipers you will see some vents. Those are the vents for the air conditioning. Spray as you wish into those vents. Although this may not deep clean your A/C system, it will give it a great smell and clean it.......

hakk97se

That is NASTY! Your air conditioner would smell like lysol forever. Plus, breathing in all those chemicals, especially over a long period of time, is unbelievably bad for you!!!

The best thing to do for mildew in the A/C is to take it to a carwash or detailing place that does Ozone treatment. Ozone kills mold and then attaches to the particulate matter in the air. Then you can blow out the ozone with the air system itself to evacuate the ozone.

bsetiawan

iTrader: (43)

One of the most effective method to make your smell go away is not to set the air to recirculate in the cabin. Let outside air into the cabin. This way your ventilation would not be damp and stink. Just set the ventilation to outside air and the smell will slowly go away over time. If you want to do it quick, set the heater to full blast with the engine running for like half an hour to an hour. This will dry out the dampness in the ventilation that causes the smell.

n2oMike

Warm, moist environments are where mold, fungus, and 'funk' in general grow. These are what make the AC smell musty.

Water condenses on the cold evaporator core under the dash and runs out under the car through a drain tube. When the car is shut off with the AC on, the evaporator is still wet. As it sits in the heat, it gets warm, and the 'funk' starts to grow on it.

It's best to dry the evaporator before shutting the engine off by turning the AC off, and turning the unit on high fan a few minutes before shutting the engine off.

However, if it's already funky, you'll need to come up with a way to clean it. There are various sprays out there that can be sprayed into the unit. Some foams are also available if you care to do some disassembly in order to get a direct line of site at the evaporator. An AC buddy of mine turns the unit on recirculate and sprays a full can of aresol into the intake, and lets the car sit for a bit while the stuff gets recirculated through the system.

Good Luck!

Frank Fontaine

I don't think too many people use recirculate, there are very few situations where it's beneficial.

I have used the Lysol method and it works. To say it's gonna cause health problems is crazy. That's like saying don't use ammonia and water to clean the inside of your windshield, because afterwards your car will smell like ammonia. yes it will, but if you leave the windows open it goes away and the glass sparkles. otherwise you can use glass cleaner which does nothing more but put a greasy, smeary film on the inside of the glass. ammonia and water is the only thing I know of that takes it off.

n2oMike

Recirculate is easier on the system.

Bringing in 'fresh' air from the outside is not the answer. It is going to be 90+ degrees and FULL of moisture (if you live in the east).

The system will have to cool the 90+ degree air, AND drain all that much more moisture. Turning the controls to 'max' or recirculate allows the system to cool air that has already been cooled somewhat, and been de-humidified.

The aresol you buy for AC systems is sort of like super powered Lysol... so I don't see Lysol as being dangerous. For goodness sake, it's air freshener, and it disappates over time. The funk in the AC is a much larger threat.

Good Luck!

Frank Fontaine

I always thought recirculate was to get the car cooled in a hurry, or say you're in a garage where the motors are shut off to pump out the exhaust or something like that. As we all know, if you hit recirc when it's raining outside the cabin will fog up in a hurry. I think of it as opening a window in your house or leaving it closed. It's somehow fresher when outside air comes inside. Especially with pets, strippers, grandparents inside the house.