ksbunting

Does anyone have any tips about eliminating the musty odor that some time comes from the A/C vents?
Thank you in advance

GaryS

I would think that finding a musty odor coming from the vents of a car that is at least 20 years old (perhaps older) wouldn't be uncomon. You can take the dash assemblies off and clean the duct work to rid the car of the probable dust and other Jurassic Goo that is residing there. This isn't difficult just time consuming and most of you can do this with ordinary tools.

If you do this, ensure that you clean the parts in soap and water and then lightly rinse them in water that has a small amount of bleach in it to kill any bactgeria.

Gary

Jvette73

Maybe this would help. Try spraying Fabreeze into the cowl area where the vent picks up. Keep the fan on high. Mist it in there.

MIKER

We had the same problem on our 96 Dodge truck.
Prior to turning off the engine on your car, turn ON the HEAT. This will warm the evaprator core to eliminate the condensation present which leads to mold and mildew.
After following this procedure on the truck we noticed an improvement.

I read about this on a Dodge truck web site while investigating a solution for it.

Smokehouse69

Mike,
Has a good suggestion for drying out the evaporator, I went a step farther. On the top of the Evaporator housing is the blower speed resistor pack. If you pull it out you can see right down into the top of the evaporator. I got some solvent from an air conditioning shop that is used to clean household evaporators. I squirted in the housing and then used a shop vac to blow air into it until it dried out. Now the air has no odor coming out of the vents.
Other people have used Simple Green and water to clean the evaporator, I didn't choose to use Simple Green, I don't like the smell and was afraid that it would linger.

BSeery

My 2000 Dodge has it also, they still can't fix it !!

In older cars it is usually due to mold growing in the evap. area. This was caused by water collecting in that area. There should be a drain on the evap. and it should be dripping water out when the a/c is running. If the water can not drip out, it stays inside in a nice cool, dark, damp area.
Now what grows well in a nice cool, dark, damp area ---- MOLD!!

Fix the drain first or the mold will come back. Once the drain is working, then turn the a/c to MAX (re-circulate) By the passenger foot area, a door should open when the MAX is turned on. Spray into that area with Lysol or what ever can find to kill mold.
My Dodge dealership has some spray they put in there every year on our truck. On the truck it is not a drain issue, it is a design flaw that lets the moisture stay in there.

Good luck.

Jughead

I had an '82 TA that either had no drain hole or was clogged. One hot summer day the passenger side compartment got flooded while cornering:eek: I had no idea where the water came from. Thru the process of elimination I focused on the AC. The next day I drilled a new drain hole. I couldn't believe how much water came out!

john's '81 mouse

I remember reading something where someone had manufactured and was selling a spray specifically to eliminate this mold/odor problem, but just can't remember where or what. Perhaps it is a product that GM dealer can supply, but I simply don't remember for certain, maybe another forum member saw or read the same article????

Biker

Gosh! All these years I've been using scented green Christmas tree freshners to remove (mask) the old car smell in my '81.

ksbunting

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.
I will start with the drain hole and also try the "heat" trick to dry out the evaporator/condensor.
Much appreciate everyone's input.