Procedure for curing bad A/C smell -- (very easy.) (archive)

COMPLETE STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE:
Description: HVAC vents smell bad when you are not using the air conditioner and especially bad just after the A/C is turned off. It smells fine when the A/C is on and cold. The smell is caused by bacteria, mold, and mildew growing on the damp air conditioner coils in your dash.

Procedure to eliminate odor:
1. Start car.
2. Turn on A/C at lowest temperature setting and max fan speed. Make sure it is NOT on recirculate, you want to pull in fresh air from outside.
3. Open hood.
4. Locate fresh air intake. (It is just under the vents at the top of the hood near the windshield.)
5. Remove filter cover. This involves turning three hand locking fasteners and pulling cover toward the front of the car and up.
6. Remove filter.
7. Fog an antibacterial disinfectant* into this opening where the filter was. Your fan will help draw the disinfectant in and the cold A/C coils will make it condense right where it needs to in order to solve the problem.
*(Lysol works great and you have lots of flavors to choose from.)
8. Turn the car off and reassemble it.

For best results, but not required:
1. Begin with a dry A/C coil (make sure A/C has not been used recently.)
2. Complete this procedure when car will not be used for a few hours. This gives the disinfectant time to kill off whatever is growing in there. If you run the car and turn on the A/C right afterward, condensation will dilute and wash away the disinfectant, reducing it's effectiveness.

Hope this works as well for all of you as it did for me.
-JW

Follow Ups:

How to prevent smell from recurring even easier 00:31 8/16/99 (0)
Car smells of Lysol instead? HSJ 21:44 8/15/99 (1)
- This is not a cover up, it's a cure. JayDoublya 23:25 8/15/99 (0)

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