Getting rid of smells, specifically in the A/C

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caudleej

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I have a customer who has a truck that has a terrible vinegar smell from the a/c in the first few minutes of run time. It's understandably embarrassing for the customer because passengers get in his clean and detailed truck and are then blasted with this smell. One day I had them leave the truck at my house and then about 3 hours later I started it up a lo and behold it smelled just like someone just dumped a gallon of vinegar all over the place.

My first initial reaction was to check for a cabin air filter which this truck does not have. I guarantee the smell is coming from rotten water/moisture that condenses in the a/c system. I have had this before in 4-5 year old vehicles but changing the cabin air filter helps considerably. I have tried everything I know of.

I've thoroughly cleaned the carpets, tried car odor eliminators. I can spray all the upholstered surfaces in the truck with a car scent spray like from chemical guys or car beauty pro to freshen things up which the customer says helps for a few days.

Anyone else ever come across rotten a/c and if so what have you done to help?
 
How do you steam the a/c?

Could you briefly describe the process?
 
You might have to remove the air box inside and clean it out. If leaves and other debris got sucked inside they'll collect on evaporator and rot. When I used to work at a Jeep dealer we had to replace a lot of evaporators inside because they would rot where the debris collected and start leaking refrigerant. Jeep came out with a replacement plastic grate that went on outside to stop all the leaves from getting sucked in through fresh air intake for climate system. BG used to have a product called frigi fresh that helped for a little while. You put vent system on fresh air intake and spray frigi fresh at cowl where air goes in. It's a temporary fix in my opinion.
 
Also check and make sure that water is draining from AC evaporator when it's running. If it's not you surely have debris in there clogging drain and stinking up the air box and vehicle.
 
The biggest way to remedy this problem is when you get home or to your destination, turn off the a/c and run the vent on high to get any or as much moisture out of the system. I usually shut off the a/c a couple blocks from home and then crank up the regular vent on high. There should also be an intake on the bottom somewhere that will recirculate air through the system. Turn on the a/c and spray some of the CG stuff in there and let it work thought it and then repeat as needed.
 
Pour some bleach into the outside vent and turn on the fan,may help or solve.
 
There's an aerosol product made just to remove the mold that builds in the A/C system, but I forget the name. My Lincoln developed this problem regularly during certain times of the year. I finally sprayed a can of heavy-duty Lysol into the vents just outside (in front of) the windshield with air (or fan) on full. Let it run for a while.
 
Steaming the ac is pretty simple but you will need a steam machine, you basically turn on your AC unit where it circulates around the car, now that the ducts on the end are sucking it and the middle ducts are blowing out take your steamer and put your smallest tip attachment on and aim it into the duct that's sucking in and fire away. The steam will get sucked in one end and blow out the other therefore steam cleaning your vehicles ac system. Vary safe and works good for smokers vehicles.
 
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