Bad smelling air through vents.

I have an 84 Chrysler New Yorker and when I turn the air on, the air has a
bad smell coming through the vents for the first few minutes then it goes
away. Now I did have the car setting up for a while (almost 2 years) and
drove it very seldom during this period. So is there something that builds
up in the duct lines when you let a car sit up? Is there anything I can do
to clean it out?

 

Pour bleach through your air vents ( the ones in front of your
windshield ). Let it sit there for a while before you flush it away
with plain water.

Lg

 

Is it a car chemical smell such as gasoline or antifreeze, or a mold smell?

If you were running the AC the last day you drove it before parking it, it
could be from condensate sitting there so long.

Bleach will definitely kill mold, but pouring it in the top vent like that
other guy said sounds a little risky to me -- who knows where it will come
out? (My first guess would be the bottom vent by your feet so at least
protect the carpet if you do this.)

A safer way to try to kill mold would be to get the engine good and hot by
driving the car, then park it and turn the heater on hot/recirculate (on
American cars recirculate is called "Max AC") and spray an airborn
disinfectant such as Lysol Room Deodorizer, then close the door and leave it
running for 20-30 minutes.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

 

Just taking a guess, but if you ran the a/c at all, via the a/c
button, or using the defroster, some mosture can remain on the coils.
Being a dark place, some mold/mildew might be growing and stinking up
your ducts.

So, turn off your a/c and run fresh air through your ducts before
shutting off your engine.

imho,

Tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com

 

And just WHERE do you think the bleach is going to go? Almost certainly
not down to the evaporator coil where the mold/mildew is actually
growing! And even if it did, chlorine bleach is a really good way to
corrode the fins right off it.

I would put the blower on "high" "recirculate" and spray Lysol (or
equivalent) disinfectant spray into the return air intake wherever it
may be located- that way the mold-killing stuff actually gets carried
through the coils, and it isn't corrosive.

 

I agree with Lysol as a disinfectant to kill odors and also a product
called Febreeze works 'really' well on odors with no nasty aftersmell
like lysol, not sure about it as a disinfectant, you would have to read
the label. It will kill wet dog and sneaker smell instantly and it
doesn't come back though, so likely it kills good too....

http://www.homemadesimple.ca/febreze/en_CA/index.shtml

I would stay far far away from any liquid like bleach.

They need to be sprayed in the fresh air intake for the heater with the
AC on full or if you know where the flapper door is for the
recirculating air, you can spray most in there with just some from the
outside air with the fan on full. You need to cycle the AC and Heater
on high as you spray so every air route gets some.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

 

The same place rainwater comes out when it runs off your windshield.
Hopefully that isn't on your feet )))

 

Out a drainhole under the car door.

How do ya know that?

Nah, not if you RINSE IT WITH A GARDEN HOSE THOROUGHLY AFTER LETTING
IT SIT FOR 5 MINUTES. Which I did mention, but you didn't.

Well whatever.

Lg

 

Will it take away the odor if there's a dead chipmunk in his duct
work?

Yah, bad idea. Might kill the fungi, and you know that fungi might be
on the EPA Protected Species List.

All in all, not a bad idea. Depends how _bad_ the infestation is,
IMO.

Lg

 

The smell sure wouldn't go away after a couple minutes of use if there
was a dead rodent in there.

I would avoid 'any' liquid like bleach because it will not go into
aerosol and get all through the system, it will only clean the drain
out....

Hey nothing wrong with a clean drain, but....

Mike

 

Because of all the cars I've owned, all the cars I've looked at in
junkyards, and all the cars I've ever seen diagrams of in manuals, NONE
have a direct downward path from the air intake to the heater core or AC
evaporator. If they did, rainwater, leaves, and muck would plug the evap
in no time. There's always a sort of inverted "trap" where the air goes
in the vent, sideways, UP, and then down the actual inlet. Plus, in a
lot of instances, the air goes through the blower BEFORE the coil.

Still could be a lot of residue. Why not use a mist (like Lysol or
Febreze that another poster mentioned) that will actually get carried to
where it needs to be?

 

I agree your idea has good merit to it. I didn't know there was
something called Febreeze, but now I agree Lysol is a lot easier to
find where I live.

Cleaning things up isn't my specialty or I would know about this. I'm
the one always making the mess

Lg

 

I think a multiple direction attack on this mildew or whatever it is
sounds like a good idea, but it might be for nothing if the OP has a
Cabin Filter that has never been changed.

That is how I get my inside air, through a Cabin Filter. It is due
for replacement, the part will cost me about $15 and then there is a
bit of light disassembly required to finish the job. Since it is
hidden away on my car, I bet most people don't even know it is there.

On my car, it is located just forward of the firewall on the passenger
side of the vehicle, hidden under some plastic bits.

Lg

 

Whaddya know, Glickman's wrong again. He has the temerity to call other
folks 'car-breakers' then posts this drivel.

Yeah, whatever, Larry. Go get a life.

The first attempt to fix an odor like this used in dealerships (back
when I worked in one) was an aerosol sprayed into the air inlet while
the blower motor was running on 'high'.

It used to be that the parts dept. stocked something in particular for
this, but I imagine Lysol would work just as well.

Febreeze doesn't have any disinfectant properties that I'm aware of; I
think the odor would come back quickly.

Incidently, the disinfectant aerosol is blown into the passenger
compartment of the car, which will cause your eyes to sting and burn. Give it plenty
of running time with all the windows down after doing this.

The only other fix is to remove and clean the evaporator/heater core
enclosure. Some people have had luck with backflushing via the firewall
drain, but I'm not sure I would try it.

--Geoff

 

Ehm, no I am correct. I have intentionally used a garden hose in the
past to flood the air intake under the front windscreen, and indeed
the water egresses through a hole inder the door frame.

So I have two words for you, but they can't be repeated in polite
public. The two alternative words that -can- be repeated in polite
public are:

drop
dead

Lg

 

The only "bad smell" around here at the moments appears to be you
Geoff. When was the last time you took a bath or brushed your teeth?

Lg

 

Here assfucker, I am doing an experiment JUST FOR YOU.
Right this minute, I am hooking up my garden host and will FLOOD the
air vents under my windshield. I'll be back in a minute to tell you
where the water egresses the vehicle....

 

Here assfucker, I am doing an experiment JUST FOR YOU.
Right this minute, I am hooking up my garden host and will FLOOD the
air vents under my windshield. I'll be back in a minute to tell you
where the water egresses the vehicle....

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Well fuckstick, I just completed putting 10 GALLONS OF WATER INTO MY
AIR INTAKE UNDER THE WINDSHIELD. Where did it come out?

Not a single drop into the passenger compartment, ALL under the car
behind the front wheel wells.

So you ignorant moron, I suggest you SHUTTHEFUCKUP and go back to the
peanut gallery before you open your stupid mouth again in the future
and only embarrass yourself in front of the entire planet.

Lg

 

OK, so you just proved that your suggestion won't help him at all. Did
you have a point?

nate

 

Nobody has proven it WON'T work.

It is step #1 of a multi-part procedure:

Step #2 and beyond is repeating what has already been posted:

i.e.
*Install new Cabin Air Filter if there is one.

*While blower motor is on high, spray Lysol mist into air intake that
Cabin Air Filter feeds.

*Find any air input ducts _INSIDE_ the vehicle, and spray Lysol mist
into them with blower motor running at full speed.

END

None of this exonerates any of you from being nitwits.