Cleaning out the A/C Vents

Guys, I have to revise this statement. I drove my truck today and the musty smell is gone. That air freshener bug bomb actually worked. Now, I have to wipe down the hard surfaces in my truck and clean the inside of my windows, but no more musty smell.

 

careful though if you spray to much foam you can kill the blower motor.

 

I mean I guess it’s possible, but you’d have to spray almost the whole can through the drip line I would think. As long as the directions are followed even somewhat loosely I don’t see it being an issue.

 

Basically spray the foam until you Here the blower motor sound/pitch change and then let the foam work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5losscd7-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjixXmCf26Q

 

I can’t watch the videos since I’m on mobile but I think that is different than the toyota kit. The toyota kit you don’t spray foam with the fan on. You turn the fan on after the foaming just to dry everything in the hvac system, then you spray the “clean air” kit with the blower on but its just a mist that goes through the system.

 

Bought my last truck used in Jan '01 and when summer came around it started reeking of cigarettes. I gave it the lysol treatment since back then there weren't filters to change and it did the trick, drove it for 16 years and the stink never came back.

 

Not running it in recirculate mode all the time will cut down the musty odor problem a lot--most of the molds and bacteria that cause that are an aerobic, pulling in fresh air will kill that crap off.

Don't know why they made recirculate the default? Must be some "green" eco-thing...

 

It's not an eco thing but simple engineering. AC works better in recirc since the AC doesn't have to work as hard. Mine switches to vent when I turn the AC off.

 

It works more efficiently once the cabin is cooled...

 

True, but unless you're driving around the block and parking again it will be more efficient most of the time to run it on recirc so that's the way they set it up. If they wanted to be clever they could have tied internal/external temp sensors into the controls to automaticall shift from vent to recirc when the cabin tem drops below external ambient. Some just lower the windows and crank the AC until it feels ok to close the windows, which usually isn't long.

 

The Toyota kit foam is not supposed to be used with the A/C running. Vehicle should be off.

 

really? How is the foam supposed to get pushed through the condenser which is what it is supposed to be cleaning?

 

The foam is used to clean the evaporator. Condenser is at the front of the truck.

 

It fills up the evaporator box by injecting it in the drip tube. I have first hand experience that it works so I don’t know what to say.

 

I understand what these foam kits are supposed to clean, after all I sell them. Honestly I'd want a product that pushes through the evap condenser to get it thoroughly cleaned. That's just me

 

I suppose if it's filling the condenser box from the bottom up it should do a decent job of pushing it's way into the fins. I'd worry about the fan pushing the cleaner past the box to some place poorly equiped handle the foam or the scum it dissolves.

 

My musty smell is back. I'm going to try the Lysol spray in the cabin filter area and see how that works for me. In theory, it should do the trick.

I'll report back in a few days and let you all know how it works out.

 

Did the Lysol thing yesterday. MUCH better today. I just sprayed it in the cabin filter opening while running on high, recirculate for about 30 seconds. Then I let the A/C run for about 20 minutes. Stink is gone!

 

Has anyone tried scrubbing bubbles?