2nd Gen LH Car Musty Smell

'99 Dodge Intrepid ES

I get a mild musty smell from the climate control air vents after it's
been raining outside. There probably is some debris and pine needles
somewhere in the car's HVAC system. Is there anyway to clean this out
with disassembling the car? I'm reluctant to spray anything and risk
corroding the a/c evaporator coil.

Pine needles seem to be attracted to my car. They also like to slide
down the window seals, etc. despite my best efforts .

 

With my '95 Concord I get that smell in damp weather.
I spray in a commercial duct cleaner which my dealer uses. They sold me
a "life time supply" container of it. My Concord needs this treatment
about 3 times per year, but I'm in the damp west coast climate.
I understand such cleaners are available at some auto supply shops.

My wife's Sebring also requires this treatment, but not as frequently.

You need a better (covered) parking spot, tree droppings are a problem
with most vehicles.

 

Greg,

The cabin intake is on the passenger side just below the cowling at the
bottom of the windshield - a vertical rectangular shaped screened
window. I have leaves much more than pine needles where I live, but
they want to deposit right there at the cabin air intake and in the
adjacent cavernous gap between the fender and interior panel - must be
sucked out with a long wand on a powerful vacuum cleaner hose. I keep
promising myself I'm going to put some screen over that whole area -
would make the periodic leaf cleanout totally trivial.

But I suspect the real problem is mold/mildew in the evaporator. Not
sure how you will avoid spraying to eliminate the odor.

Why do you think that a de-odorizing spary will cause any more corrosion
than it already undergoes from moisture and resulting growth from normal
use?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')