AC Mildew Cleaner

[Spurshot]

I thought I’d share this with the truck forum, although I did this on my Camaro.  My AC was starting to develop a mildew stink in the past few weeks.  Today I found a foaming cleaner at Autozone.  I wasn’t able to squirt the evaporator directly, so I sprayed it into the fan which is upstream.  I used the entire 8 oz can. I believe these types of foaming cleaners are much better than Lysol type disinfectant sprays.

 

 

[ChevyRoofer]

Care to post a shot of exactly where you sprayed into?

I remember lots of guys having this smell issue in the past...


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[pmhinatl]

Great info. And if you’re having a problem with AC mildew odors, be sure to check the condensate drain. Any pooled condensate will be a breeding ground for mildew and funky odors.

[Spurshot]

8 hours ago, ChevyRoofer said:

Care to post a shot of exactly where you sprayed into?

I remember lots of guys having this smell issue in the past...


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I did it on my Camaro so it's different on the trucks.  But the idea is to get it onto the evaporator.  On the Camaro, the filter is accessed under the hood, near the passenger side. (see the sketch).  I couldn't locate the evaporator easily, so I removed the filter and squirted in half the can the fan directly behind the filter while the fan was running on high, shut the fan off right away, waited 15 mins, turned it on again and emptied the other half of the can into the running fan, shut down for 15 mins, ran the fan again on high for 15 mins to dry out the system, drove for a while with the heater on to dry it further.   I feel confident I got the foam on the evaporator since there was a decent size puddle of the foam cleaner on the ground under the car and the high velocity of the airflow should have covered all the components inside.

 

For our trucks, you may have easier access directly to the evaporator. In the photo attached, you are looking behind the lower glove box once it's removed.  The cabin filter is behind the cover with the hex pattern.  I believe the evaporator is to the left where the white sticker is located.  There's two ways I can think of to get the foam on the evaporator.  Easiest and safest is remove the filter cover, remove the filter, drill a small hole (3/16-1/4") in the cover, replace the cover without the filter in place, turn on the high blower, squirt the foam into the hole in a similar scenario I described above for the Camaro.  You could drill a hole into the housing near the evaporator and squirt it directly in that area.  But you better be dang sure you don't damage the evaporator.  If you do, you're looking at removing the dashboard to remove the HVAC housing, which means removing the seats, instruments, etc..  A huge job!  The filter cover drilling is safe and simple and if you totally ruin the filter cover, you can replace it.

[Spurshot]

Here's a sketch of the truck HVAC from a parts website.  I think the filter is directly above the squirrelcage fan.

 

[2017 ltz]

Be careful with those cleaners . Had dealer do my old 14 silverado and the cleaner got into the fan motor and shorted it out . 

[Yotaman]

And be sure they are not to acidic cause a rotted condenser is even worse that a smelly one....money wise fo sho

 

22R