Recently bought a 2000 Chrysler Voyager. It now has developed a very bad smell in the passenger compartment now that the perfume the dealer sprayed inside is gone. So far, I have not been able to track it down, but it appears to come from the A/C vents. Is there a filter somewhere we need to change? The owners manual doesn't list one. Any help most appreciated, as we need the A/C in this hot weather.
Thanks
JMC
That is a common problem in some climates, it probably smells like old gym socks, eh?
It is caused by the growth of mold in the evaporator core and the box that the evap core is in. If you use the AC a lot and don't shut it down properly this happens.
What you should do with AC is that when you have finished driving the car for the day, and are going to leave it for a long period, (like overnight) you need to park, then turn off the AC then run the blower fan on high for about 5 minutes, or maybe even put the vent on hot, high. Otherwise what happens is that you leave condensate water in the evap core and the water takes a long, long time to dry out, and meanwhile any spores/fungus/crud from the outside or inside air that has been circulating in the system, take all that yummy water and grow and germinate and cause lots of stink.
Once you have a nice crop of mold in there, then it's hopeless. Worse, the mold can grow to the point that the condensate drain hole plugs up, and then the condensate water has no place to go and will just stay in there and help the mold to grow that much faster.
The only real solution is to tear apart the dash and open up the box the evap core is in and give everything a nice good washdown, preferably in bleach water.
There are a few companies that make a foam that you drill a hole in the evap core box (not in the core itself!) and squirt the foam in there, the foam then supposedly kills all the mold and then washes it all down the condensate drain hole. The foam is probably some kind of bleach mixture, no doubt. Same stuff you spray on your shower grout to kill the mold there, too, probably.
Call some auto detailing places in your area, and find one that has dealt successfully with this problem and will warranty it.
Ted
When I first read this, the movie Dirty Old Men came to mind (dead fish under the back seat..... ; )
As usual, he has been told to put up with a piss-poor design by Chrysler. Rick
That is a common problem in some climates, it probably smells like old gym socks, eh?
It is caused by the growth of mold in the evaporator core and the box that the evap core is in. If you use the AC a lot and don't shut it down properly this happens.
What you should do with AC is that when you have finished driving the car for the day, and are going to leave it for a long period, (like overnight) you need to park, then turn off the AC then run the blower fan on high for about 5 minutes, or maybe even put the vent on hot, high. Otherwise what happens is that you leave condensate water in the evap core and the water takes a long, long time to dry out, and meanwhile any spores/fungus/crud from the outside or inside air that has been circulating in the system, take all that yummy water and grow and germinate and cause lots of stink.
Once you have a nice crop of mold in there, then it's hopeless. Worse, the mold can grow to the point that the condensate drain hole plugs up, and then the condensate water has no place to go and will just stay in there and help the mold to grow that much faster.
The only real solution is to tear apart the dash and open up the box the evap core is in and give everything a nice good washdown, preferably in bleach water.
There are a few companies that make a foam that you drill a hole in the evap core box (not in the core itself!) and squirt the foam in there, the foam then supposedly kills all the mold and then washes it all down the condensate drain hole. The foam is probably some kind of bleach mixture, no doubt. Same stuff you spray on your shower grout to kill the mold there, too, probably.
Call some auto detailing places in your area, and find one that has dealt successfully with this problem and will warranty it.
Ted
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