How You Can Fix a Bad Smell in the Air Conditioner of a Car?
During the summer driving season, a common complaint by drivers and passengers in an air conditioned vehicle is the occasional horrible smell emitted from the air conditioning vents. This is actually an increasingly common complaint in recent years due to specific design changes made to the air conditioning systems by most auto manufacturers to become more efficient. Nonetheless, it is a problem that can be cured and prevented.
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Instructions
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Identify the problem. Pop the car's hood and look near all the air intake locations for a small animal's nest or a decaying carcass from an unlucky visitor. If no animal signs are present, the smell is most likely being caused by a combination of fungus as well as small microbes and bacterial growths within the air conditioning system. The constantly wet (and very dark) evaporator core in the air conditioning system is an almost perfect environment to support these organisms' rapid growth.
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Disinfect the air vents and duct work by starting the car and turning the air conditioner on in the recirculate mode. Use a medium to high blower speed. With the system on, spray disinfectant directly into the air conditioning air intake vents (usually located beneath the dash board, or near the floorboards). This is where the recycled air originates before it is cooled. Watch for any disinfectant drips that are visible near the air vents or air vent passages, and wipe up as needed with a dry rag. Continue to spray disinfectant using different blower settings and all intake vents until the spray disinfectant is depleted (use a whole can or bottle).
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Allow the car to air out, then check to see if the smell is gone. Keep in mind that there are other areas in which the offending odor can originate (deeper within the system). If the smell persists, it is highly likely that automakers have made the evaporator canister on your car extremely small with tightly spaced cooling fins. While this increases its efficiency, it also makes the canister highly prone to capture moisture which will not evaporate.
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Extinguish any remaining smell by repeating the disinfectant procedure, spraying disinfectant into all intake vents using all blower speeds, then allowing the blower to remain on in the high position with the car engine off for 30 minutes. Repeat this procedure several times so that the evaporator canister becomes completely dry and thoroughly coated with disinfectant.
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Tips & Warnings
In certain severe cases, partial disassembly of the evaporator canister system may be required in order to reach it completely with disinfectant.
Avoid eye contact with disinfectant.
References
- Photo Credit Beautiful interior of the new modern car image by terex from Fotolia.com
