Ac evaporator cleaning

[pjq]

2004 S hibernating for the winter.

There was a bit of a musty smell coming from the ventilation this season so I did some searching and it sounds like my ventilation duct's and AC Evap. need to be cleaned. There are spray foams that can do this but first I need to make sure the drain line for the Evap. housing is clear.
Where is the drain outlet ?
Have you used this spray foam cleaning method before? Any bad side effects?
I've attached a few pictures to help.


Passenger foot area. I'm assuming this is the Evap. housing drain line?


This is the passenger underside just right of center line. I can only stick a wire about 3/4 inch into nipple then it stops like it has hit an elbow? Is this the outlet for the Evap. housing? Any suggestion how to confirm its not plugged?



Since I'm on the front end of the car and drains, what is this drain pipe from? This is back side of right front wheel well. Battery drain?

[Meir]

yes.
to all of your questions.
i suggests to disconnect the rubber fitting between the evaporator box and drain line, and just give it a nice shot of compressed air.
not sure about the spray foams.
all ducts can be removed relatively easy and clean if needed.
you can also acess the inside of the air box from 3 different locations.
1. cabin air filler housing.
2. removing the heater core (will give you access to other side of box)
3. removing the vent fan.
you can check out the attached links to better understand the internals of the evaporator box, and the AC ducts system.

Step 1 -Heater removal:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hxb4w0y3incjrcc/step%201%20heater%20core%20removal.pdf
Step 2 - Dashboard cover removal
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bjsmzjkt7fz4jru/step%202%20Dashboard%20cover%20removal.pdf
Step 3 - Evaporator replacement:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wjz9stc83j3wxpe/step%203%20Evaporator%20replacement.pdf


you obviously don't have to go thru all that just to give it a good clean, but it will give you a better picture.

[pjq]

Wow Meir great write up. You should have these in the DIY section. By now you must have taken every part of your car apart.

If I remove the vent fan, should I be able to see the evaporator fins?

Thanks, Pat.

[grc0456]

Meir is The Man in this area

[Jager]

Try using Lysol neutra air. Remove the cabin air filter and spray into the air box with the AC unit on. Change the temperature to max heat then to max cold then back to max heat. Spray more Lysol into the cabin air filter box and turn the AC unit off and cycle through max heat to max cold then back to max heat. This works great for me and keeps the ducts/vents odor free for a long time.

[grc0456]

Cool tip!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[pjq]

Thanks for the input.

[Meir]

Originally Posted by pjq

Wow Meir great write up. You should have these in the DIY section. By now you must have taken every part of your car apart.

If I remove the vent fan, should I be able to see the evaporator fins?

Thanks, Pat.

Hi Pat.
Yes, if you remove the fan you should be able to get to one side of the evaporator enough to spry it with something.
And the links are on the DIY section, just needs to search for them.