Air system cleaning

[ctbfalcon]

I'm a new Edge owner and I have a smell coming from the air system that I'm trying to track down. The previous owner must have lived on a farm or dealt with horses not sure but there is a light smell of hay coming from air system. Not strong but noticeable after a rain or high humidity. So i have changed the cabin air filter, rather added it since the 08 didnt have one. Ive vacumed the carpets and cleaned the vents as well as i can. But its still there. So im wondering what else I can do to get ride of the smell?

 

I've seen topics covering cleaning the evaporator chamber but that requires removing the whole dash and im not confident i could handle something like that for just a smell. Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for your help in advance

[akirby]

Check the cowl area at the base of the windshield on the passenger side and under the hood.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

The evaporator drain is much easier to get at than the evaporator itself, so get that cleaned out first. Can of compressed air works well.

 

There are kits that will allow you to send foaming cleaners up the upper half of the drain and clean it that way. You have to be able to get the straw quite far up the pipe tho.

[Tacyon]

Febreze

[enigma-2]

The most common cause is mold or mildew growing in the evap housing. As WWWPerfA noted, there are products made to kill the mold and make everything smell clean again. The most common is Kool-It. (Here's a link on Amazon).

 

Lubegard 96030 Kool-It Evaporator and Heater Foam Cleaner https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007PHD0S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_42pUybHTMHTDC

 

It's a really easy job, you crawl under the car, locate the ac drain and route the Kool-It can's supply hose up into this drain. You Then spray the entire can into the drain and your done. It will expand as foam filling the entire inside of the evap housing, then turn into a liquid and drain out.

 

Here's a Youtube video on how to do this.

 

Edited March 3, 2017 by enigma-2