My max a/c system is starting to smell... and no its not b/c i am farting.. . Seriously.. It smells like mildew. How can i change the air conditioner filter ? where is it located and how much is it.? BTw its seems taht it only does it when i have the recirculation lever on and the fresh air on the off possition..

 

If your a/c is starting to smell, I would check to see if the drain tube is not (partially) plugged. You can spray Lysol in to your system at the intake while set on recirc, but that only masks the problem, and the smell will return if you don't fix the source of it.

John

 

i want to fix the solution not mask it... where can i find the drain..

 

front pass side...slightly behind the front wheel well.
turn on the ac on a humid day..you'll see the water is coming from.

 

can i get to it to make certain that its draining properly? BTW is there only one drain for the a/c .? The air conditionerhas no filter?? How can they (nissan) protect us(3rd gen owners) from germs and micro organism..? ok what happends if the draining pipe or what not is not doing its job... can ther actually be a back up(build up ) of water? and also doens't the air of the a/s get drawn into through the vents at the wipers? those little slits on the wiper right on the window( where leaves like to live in? HOw can i clean these vents.. As far as lysol... do i have to take the dash appart to get to the a/s vents...? I hvae taken out the dash before to get to the cluster and actuall stuck my hand in the a/c piping..I have read that some person played a practical joke on some one and put pee(urine) into the vents and stunk up the car...... mybe its the same principle, except for the urine


anyone with answers... Maybe our moderator can help with their wisdom..ahem matt

 

draining - turn on the AC on a humid day..let it run for 10 min..do u see a puddle of water? if yes..you're good..don't fluck w/ it. if no..check why not.

one drain - yes

no filter - filters in the cabin came out in the late 90s (and HOW OLD IS YOUR CAR??!)..if you don't maintain the car..then it's not nissan's fault.

drain blocked - you'll get a build up of water inside the condensor. symptoms: poor cooling, possible water getting into the cabin

air - it is drawn FROM the top..but it hits a few things (like your ac unit) before it gets to the cabin.

cleaning - basically your funk is coming from the bacterial built up in the AC unit. try flushing the cowl vents with some water. you'll prob get a lot of dirt flying out of the back of the fender at the bottom. get some lysol..spray into the vents inside and run the ac on recirculate. best u can do without taking the whole system apart.

i think that covers it...you can ask our fearless leader Matt about any follow up question.

 

no filter - filters in the cabin came out in the late 90s (and HOW OLD IS YOUR CAR??!)..if you don't maintain the car..then it's not nissan's fault.1991 GXE, yes i do maintain it....


air - it is drawn FROM the top..but it hits a few things (like your ac unit) before it gets to the cabin.where is this located exactly

cleaning - basically your funk is coming from the bacterial built up in the AC unit. try flushing the cowl vents with some water. you'll prob get a lot of dirt flying out of the back of the fender at the bottom. get some lysol..spray into the vents inside and run the ac on recirculate. best u can do without taking the whole system apart.
where is this located[/B][/QUOTE]

 

[/B][/QUOTE]

1 - 91 and you expect nissan to put in a filter?
2 - top (cowl)..that's where you eloquently said "the vents by the wiper"
3 - see 2

 

1 - 91 and you expect nissan to put in a filter?
2 - top (cowl)..that's where you eloquently said "the vents by the wiper"
3 - see 2 [/B][/QUOTE]

when did they start putiing air conditioning filters..
so its where the wipers are.. can you take out the metal vents and just flush with water???? wut if leaves block/ clogged the vents.. How can i get it out.. is it a smae tbe or is it like a gutter type system..(meaning large passage way.?

 

when did they start putiing air conditioning filters..
so its where the wipers are.. can you take out the metal vents and just flush with water???? wut if leaves block/ clogged the vents.. How can i get it out.. is it a smae tbe or is it like a gutter type system..(meaning large passage way.? [/B][/QUOTE]

5th gens were the 1st to get them..you're 2 gens behind.
vents/grill is plastic, you can just run tons of water in there to clean it out a little...tiny bit of leaves will crumble upon water pressure.

there's a vent/screen there...now think for a second..how BIG of a item can get down there if you have a screen/grill in the way.

 

It could happen... Maybe some bird dumped in the vents leaving behind shiet and seeds, then the leaf made the compost, then the seeds germinated and i have little pants in my vents, which then grow leavesin the vents past the screen.LOL


seriously, i always thought that a/c had a filter for the air.. i mean, doesnt all a/c in home have them, even if they are from 1980's...

 

wow..that's some crazy stuff you're smoking..wanna pass some over?

home AC? apples and oranges there.

 

sure thats the same plant that in the vents.. Good shiet


but back to reality, thanks for the help.. now if i can find a high pressure hose....

 

your home garden hose w/ a nozzle will do it.

 

again i need to find a *hose*

get the high pressure from putting your thumb into the nosle..

 

It wont hurt the ac system to pour water down those vents?

 

ok its been getting hot here in nyc.. and the humdity is getting up there.. Now danny, i have turn the a/c system on and see if i get a puddle of water.. No such luck. Now i know my drain is clogged.. How can i un clogg it? Is it simply running water down the vents.? I am about to find out where there is a high pressure wash place around my area(public use) Cany one can help me how to drain the a/c hose... my maxima is backed up.....and lately the maxima hasnt been cooling down...as good... I could sit in my max for 15-20 minutes and only one drop of water would come from the drain hose. please help.. ty

 

get yourself a jack and jack stand.
lift the car as high as u can in the pass side wheel area.
once that's up you should see a translucent tube hanging down.
stick your head behind the wheel (under the front door) and look around.
it might be higher up. once you found it...get a small pipe cleaner..(metal wire w/ fuzz or brush brissles on it) and start working that bad boy in. watch out for water coming down.
that should clear it.
if you sit in it for 15-20 min...with the weather past couple of days you should get a nice puddle.

i'm assuming your AC freon is charged correctly and everything else works.

 

Yep, My a/c is charged up.. There is a cap with a little metal button sticking up and i pressed it and freon came out. so its pretty well charged. I know that if i have the a/c on for like an hour the temp starts going down and i actually got a digital temp reader and put the temp sensor into the vents. Got a reading well under 50 degrees.

ok how big of a pipe cleaner do i need.
I guess that there is gonna be alot of dirt and grim coming out when i do this huh
as for the vents power hose and unclogging the drain pipe will solve my funky smell?
well danny thanks alot... for the help
btw where are you located at>

 

well the drain is not draining...IE it's holding water/moisture.
water sitting around will cause buildup of mold and other funky stuff...hence bad smell.

now it's not going to clear it up instantly..but it'll eventually dry out and the smell may be reduced. then go from there on how to totally get rid of the smell.

pipe cleaner should be pretty small...maybe 1/8 or so...there might be a heavy spider web in there or something stopping the draining.
just look around for it..it'll be around there.
if i'm under the car anytime soon i'll take a pic for you.

 

Most of the dirt will be in front of the ac vaporizer.
I cleaned it as much as possible by taking away the
blower fan resistor.
The resistor is just in front of the vaporiser.
The resistor is very easy to remove
I sprayed a lot of water with some cleaning stuff against the
vaporizer.
A lot of dirt came out by the drain and i had a much bigger
airflow after cleaning.

 

do you have a right up for that clean up>?

 

Hello crazy-4
First i have to tell i have climate controle system ,but i see
in my manual there is also a resistor by manual ac , so this should be the same.
You have to take away the glove box and the interior part(s)below.
Than you will see the resistor it is between the blower and
the a/c evaporator . (passenger side)
take it out completly ,only two screws.
With a flashlight look in the opening and you see the intake side of the evaporator.
Most of the time there is a lot of dirt.
Carefully take out as much as possible of the dirt if there is any,
with a hook or something.
You can clean the surface by spraying in warm water, with a
cleaner if you like as much as you want as long as the condens
drain !!!! is open .
You can also use pressed air or a vacuum cleaner with a small hose
to get out some dirt
I hope this will help you let me know.