air con cleaning?

metamorphpwner

metamorphpwner

metamorphpwner

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Anyone know a decent product to clean the air con in my car? The vents have a funny smell coming from them, making the car stink
Sister mentioned it when I first got the car but I've only just stated to notice really.
Kwik fit want £29 to clean and then £49 for regas....if needed

They mentioned acbug/acdebug which come I a range of flavours but my google-foo is failing.
 
q6600 said:
I use this
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/c...leaners/air-con-cleaner/?NOR2897300&0&cc5_101
Click to expand...

Hmm how does this one work? I ask because it says it sprays directly into the vents, which means the cleaning effects of the AC system would be minimal since the vents will be blowing out?

The intakes for the air re-circulation mode are under the dash hence why the Comma product is left to eject all the spray into the cabin letting the intakes suck it through then cycle it through the entire vent system
 
It's an 08 Mondeo 2.0 tdci.

edit: the whole car smells a bit so probably worth getting the spray mrk suggested aswell, if the filter is needed.
edit2: quick google, doesn't seem too much of a challenge to get to the filter so i'll try take a look at it tomorrow. pic on google of one that's 37k miles old and it looked bad, my car have 46k on the clock so hopefully it's been changed in that time...... definitely worth a look.
 
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Doesn't an AC service include a regas? Wouldn't bother with the cheap spray can type products personally.
 
loltim said:
Doesn't an AC service include a regas? Wouldn't bother with the cheap spray can type products personally.
Click to expand...

I hope you catch an airborne virus from your bacteria laden vent system and require a long stay in hospital while the doctors try to diagnose what rare disease you've managed to catch :mad:
 
In my experience none of these work. The foaming cleaners you attempt to spray directly onto the evaporator by feeding a lance down the centre vents were the best of a bad bunch. The aerosol 'bombs' were useless and just stank out the upholstery giving a temporary illusion of 'minicab freshness'

If you can get access to the evaporator core (removing a blower resistor from the pre-evaporator ducting in my case) You can clean it properly with coil cleaner. I used Envirocoil.
 
mrk said:
Hmm how does this one work? I ask because it says it sprays directly into the vents, which means the cleaning effects of the AC system would be minimal since the vents will be blowing out?

The intakes for the air re-circulation mode are under the dash hence why the Comma product is left to eject all the spray into the cabin letting the intakes suck it through then cycle it through the entire vent system
Click to expand...

Just follow the instruction on. I change the cabin filter after doing this as well.
 
The bacteria isn't in the gas, it's in the fins of the evaporator core that the air passes through.
In all the cars I've had though, only ever noticed a musty smell when turning the AC off, so just leave it on all the time...?
 
metamorphpwner said:
They mentioned acbug/acdebug which come I a range of flavours but my google-foo is failing.
Click to expand...

Comes in apple, lemon, orange and a something else I think. All of which smell absolutely beautiful, but it is a little on the expensive side from them tbh! You can buy the stuff yourself and change the pollen filter to sort it all out. If the AC works ok then chances are it wont need a regas.
 
loltim said:
Doesn't an AC service include a regas? Wouldn't bother with the cheap spray can type products personally.
Click to expand...

Pointless getting a re gas if it doesn't need it. It has nothing to do with the smell inside the car as it is a sealed unit. The smell is bacteria in the vents/matrix and many garages just put an air con bomb in the car to get rid of it.
 
They only get this problem when the filter was not replaced and gets damp and manky with roadkill fragments, leaves, dead insects etc...

The other problem is if the filter is not a good fit and dirt leaks past or it has been removed altogether and the above has found it's way into the system and no amount of air-freshener and anti-bac' will get rid of it.

An well-maintained aircon system will not ordinarily smell or carry diseases.
 
Clarkey said:
The bacteria isn't in the gas, it's in the fins of the evaporator core that the air passes through.
In all the cars I've had though, only ever noticed a musty smell when turning the AC off, so just leave it on all the time...?
Click to expand...

Finglonga said:
Pointless getting a re gas if it doesn't need it. It has nothing to do with the smell inside the car as it is a sealed unit. The smell is bacteria in the vents/matrix and many garages just put an air con bomb in the car to get rid of it.
Click to expand...

ok. In that case I might try one of the cheap cans.
 
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