How Do You Clean AC and Heater Vents (pickup, replace, filter)

[Pappy&Me]

Our vents stink and I'm affraid they will make us sick .

How can you clean them? We took air hose and blew them out today from inside the car and some leaves came out . They we sprayed Lysol into vents .

I still don't hink this is good enough . I know nasty vents can harbor Legionairs Desease and other bad things .

[GTOlover]

I would replace the cabin air filter also if it smells bad, wash the area well with vinegar then after cleaning all the leaves and any other debris out of the vents, turn on the air conditioner and spray Lysol Disinfectant Spray into the vents. Let the air run for a couple of minutes. Sometimes it takes a couple of treatments, if it's real bad. But it definitely works.

[texdav]

i had a friend who sprayed water and clorox in some vents thyat spent like dirty smpke. There is a spray called ozona or somelike that that cuts smoers stink.

[Pappy&Me]

Thanks yall . It doesn't have cabin filter it is a 1995 .

[43north87west]

It's most likely an odor from the evaporator. There are aerosol products made to spray into the cabin air intake, which will clear the smell from the evaporator. New cars often have a function that runs the interior fan for a few minutes after the car has been shut off for a while. Lysol might work, but you'd have to address the cause of the problem, which can't be reached by spraying into the vents. You'd have to spray it into the cavity where the cabin air filter is (with the filter removed) while the vent fan is running. If you don't have a cabin air filter, you have to find the intake for the inside air and spray into that.

One other thing that might help is to turn off the A/C and let the fan run for a minute or two before you shut off the car. This will dry off the evaporator.

Edit: I just read it doesn't have the cabin air filter, so just find the fresh air intake for the cabin, and spray the product in while the interior fan is running (preferably on high speed). If you can't find the air intake (sometimes it's in a hard to reach location) then turn the HVAC controls to "recirc" and see if you can locate the interior air pickup instead. Sometimes those aren't any easier to reach.

[Pappy&Me]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

It's most likely an odor from the evaporator. There are aerosol products made to spray into the cabin air intake, which will clear the smell from the evaporator. New cars often have a function that runs the interior fan for a few minutes after the car has been shut off for a while. Lysol might work, but you'd have to address the cause of the problem, which can't be reached by spraying into the vents. You'd have to spray it into the cavity where the cabin air filter is (with the filter removed) while the vent fan is running. If you don't have a cabin air filter, you have to find the intake for the inside air and spray into that.

One other thing that might help is to turn off the A/C and let the fan run for a minute or two before you shut off the car. This will dry off the evaporator.

Edit: I just read it doesn't have the cabin air filter, so just find the fresh air intake for the cabin, and spray the product in while the interior fan is running (preferably on high speed). If you can't find the air intake (sometimes it's in a hard to reach location) then turn the HVAC controls to "recirc" and see if you can locate the interior air pickup instead. Sometimes those aren't any easier to reach.

We vaccumed the vents, took off cowl cover blew it out , blew out vents with air hose to get leaves out . Sprayed lysol with ac running . Took covers off inside vents sprayed lysol in bottom and top vents ,vacuumed out top vents far as hose could reach .

It smells better now, next we will just use fan to dry out much as possible . We live in humidityville !Plus heat index is 100 most days now . So this is good environment for mold,mildew and other bacteria and fungus .

Thanks again yall .