Musty Smell in A/C and cabin; any banana fixes?

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watchknut

watchknut

10 Year
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Jul 6, 2012
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It looks like my truck spent a lot of time under an oak tree in Central Florida, and the paint tells the tale of moisture, heat, and lack of light--that amount of mildew and crud buildup under the roof rack is pretty nasty.

The cabin has a musty smell and I found evidence of mildew on some vinyl trim--I have cleaned it pretty thoroughly and still need to shampoo the carpets. Is there anything that I need to do specifically, any products to use?

Now to the A/C--it has the musty smell coming out of the vents. I have read the threads on the issue and wanted to get a fresh prospective. I noticed yesterday the condensation is draining/dripping from under the car onto the pavement, but there were some drips into the passenger leg room as well.

Should I change the cabin filter? Should I buy an evap cleaning kit? Is there anything that I can spray into the vents? Any tips would be great! Since I am new to all of this and only have the basics when it comes to repair, banana fixes are preferred!
 
Leaf fratz is insidious. Chances are that you have mulch in the front air handler and possibly the AC evaporator box as well. Both can be opened up and cleaned out. Would try that first. Download the 2004 FSM pdf which has all the diagrams.
 
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Thanks, will look into this tonight.
 
Definitely vac out and leaves in your system, do the foam cleaner(make sure your drain tube is clear first) and throw in some new cabin filters. Will be a ton better
 
In a pinch you can always spray some Lysol -or just about any cleaner for that matter- in the inside air intake. Probably won't hurt anything much and will likely kill mold and clean the coil up.
 
PITA, a 5 min job took 2 hours! So there were no filters installed, looks like the dealership forgot. There was so much crap in there when I turned the fan it looked like a woodchipper. There was over a 1/2 inch of mulch that had to be scraped and vacuumed to make the filters fit. We are now good to go, hopefully the odor will improve.
 
Not all LC 100s came with filters from the factory. And the ones that didn't, some didn't even come with a door to install them. So now that you've got all that mulch cleaned out, you should get the foam cleaner to really get that evap cleaned out. That's where the other part of your stank is coming from.
 
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The records said the cabin filters were changed, but I guess they weren't. How do I you use the foam cleaner? Do I need to remove them again? Thanks
 
Getting that little compost heap cleaned out will help a lot. The foam cleaners might help by neutralizing any residual muck you weren't able to remove. If you feel you got it all cleared out I'd wait a week or so and see if there is still an odor hanging around.
 
https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/225016-c-evaporator-cleaner.html


I flush mine at least annually and when I get more dusty trail time I usually do it after each big dust run; lately its been 3-4 times per year.

Given the frequency mine get caked with dust and the price of the cabin filters...I swap in clean and then thoroughly soak and clean the dusty filters to reuse the next time (I have several pairs of filters). Works great and the filters hold up to the washing too. FWIW I use a 5-gallon bucket of clear water at first...agitate the filters to release the dirt then another flush with warm sudsy water...then another with clear water to rinse. Saves me a couple hun a year!

The last time I didn't have any of the special foaming A/C cleaner so I used 409. It worked fine too...if not a little stringent smelling upon the first blow. Next time I'll try saving the special plastic cap atop the A/C cleaner can and try the bathroom scrubbing bubbles stuff...I would think it would work equally fine at a fraction of the cost assuming the cap is swappable.

Be sure to remove the dirty filters before you do the evap flush...then put clean filters back in after the foam/cleaner does its job. Tip: Don't get over-zealous with the small 10mm headed screws that hold the glove box door to the dash trim...they just thread into plastic and don't require much torque.


Its easy to do and makes a big difference both from a musty smell perspective as well as increased air volume flow with clean filters. You will notice, if you've been running without filters as you stated, slightly less cfm with the filters in place.



TM/e9999: Would you please put the above link in FAQ under "Interior"?
 
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Awesome! That is such a help. I am going to remove the intake grates under the wipers and make sure those are clean before going any further. The drain is clear. Should I try 409 first and then invest on the frigi clean if it doesn't work?
 
The Nissan A/C flush I've been using includes a second smaller can of aerosol that gets sprayed, apart of the final step of this process, directly into the cowl HVAC intake. I think its advertised as anti-bacterial...dunno for sure on that one.

I'd do the above for the first time if you can get it easily. Otherwise 409 worked on the evap plate.

Also: Just know the dual cabin filters mainly get the larger particles. If you run dusty trails or behind in the group you'll still get a big puff of dust through the vents when you fire it up...but the filters are definitely worth it keeping the bigger particles/debris from the evaporator.
 
watchknut said:
Awesome! That is such a help. I am going to remove the intake grates under the wipers and make sure those are clean before going any further. The drain is clear. Should I try 409 first and then invest on the frigi clean if it doesn't work?
Click to expand...

You can go to the BG products website and search for service dealers in your area. I live in MS and there are plenty around the state. I called the first 6 service dealers and I found a local place to buy it. I was quoted 45 for the Frigi clean and the Frigi Fresh which is what you spray directly into the cowl HVAC intake as Spressomon stated.
 
Here is a pic of the nastiness that came out of the a/c after a BG cleaning. Take into account that this is what left on the tarmac after sitting in 100 degree weather under the sun for over a day! You cannot tell scale, but it is about 24" long and 8"+ wide. Needless to say, a/c is blowing colder and smelling much better

photo37.jpg
 
Great! I use the toyota stuff. no need to drill hole in evap container. It goes up the drain tube, and smart-shoppers can get it for about $16 for both cans (evap cleaner and cowl intake cleaner).
 
watchknut said:
Here is a pic of the nastiness that came out of the a/c after a BG cleaning. Take into account that this is what left on the tarmac after sitting in 100 degree weather under the sun for over a day! You cannot tell scale, but it is about 24" long and 8"+ wide. Needless to say, a/c is blowing colder and smelling much better

photo37.jpg
Click to expand...

Did you use the BG Frigi Clean? If so, would you mind snapping a picture of where you put the zerk in the evaporater box? I bought some Frigi Clean but have not done the cleaning yet as I am not sure where I need to drill the hole without damaging anything inside. Thanks in advance.

Glad to know it worked well for you. Mine definitely needs it.
 
I spoke with a BG tech at a local shop and he told me to spray 1/2 the can into the evap box, just open the door and put the tube in there. The stuff foams like heck and fills up the box. When it got close to the opening, I removed it and put the cover back into place. Ran it for 10 minutes without a/c on.

Repeated with the second half of the can and ran for 10 minutes with a/c on full blast. Nothing split and worked like a champ without drilling a hole. He also told me to finish by spraying the evap with water and running a/c again to complete flush. Hope that helps. I am not very skilled and it was very easy. I have to think that the drilled hole is for boxes that do not have an opening for filters.
 
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