u can also get some of those buckets of granuels that absorb moisture.. I did that in my old truck and it seemed to help.

 

yeah i know what you are talking about.....when i use to keep my truck in the garage it smelled like that...then i left it outside and havent had the problem since..

 

Well, when I had OJ soaked my passanger seat, I took it over to a upolstry place to clean it. Well, when I was going over their to pick it up, I could still some in the cab. I asked what I could do, he said wait a minute, let me get something. He came back out with this air freshner spray and sprayed some underneath the dash board, on the passanger side. That is where the Max A/C sucks back the air. I swear, it smelled real good, but forgot the name of what he used. He said you could pick some up a Winn Dixie.

 

I think the manual says to park it in anything but "Max A/C" or "Off". In any other setting the outside vent is open, and you shouldn't get any moisture buildup which causes mildew. Of course, if you live in a very humid area, you may rethink this, but overall it's a good practice to air out the truck over night.

 

 

The HVAC also sucks air in from the cowl beneith the windshield. Run it in A/C and spray lysol in the cowl, then run in heat and spray again. You can then run it at Max A/C and spray the interior vents to cover your entire system.

 

I have the same problem! when turning off the a/c I usally run vent only and on high for few minutes until all the odor goes away! Also I always park my truck with the vents on so the fresh air can goes in the cab and breath to get rid of the odor also! It's works every time!! It's a pain but I find it's a quick and simple solution for a/c odor! I hope this helps.

 

Unless you want to spray lysol on your paint, do it from inside the car with it set to max air.

 

i use ozium. they sell it at any auto store / car wash and i think it works very well. It is designed for removing odor and it steralizes. my wife thought she left a gallon of ice cream at the grocery store but it turned out to be pushed under the passenger seat in her focus. It started to stink for a few weeks and she said "i can't find it ." the carpet was a thick green oooooooozzzz Finaly she found it but even after numerous carpet cleaning the smell lingers. The ozium seemed to help get it out of the HVAC.

 

well my 93 still smells like it came off the assembly line everyone comments that it smells new inside :)

 

Pop out the glove box so it hangs way down. The intake for air on max ac in behind where
the glove box was. Lysol works among other things...

 

I actually removed the fan shroud from around the blower fan and motor assembly (can be seen directly behind the windshield washer fluid tank, on the passenger side of the firewall)

This shroud has a drain tube which is supposed to drain any water entering the vents around the base of the windshield or anywhere else. However, Ford's engineer's didn't think about the basic laws of physics, because the drain tube faces towards the front of the vehicle. If you drive for an extended period of time in incliment weather you can accumilate trash, debris, or anything else found in dirty rain water run-off on the opposite side of the drain tube since centrifugal force keeps it pressed against the rear wall.

If you remove the screws from around this fan or remove the shroud completely and pull it out away from the firewall, you can see where the stink originates:

Here you can see the opening of the drain tube directly above the word "Fluid" on the Washer Fluid tank lid.



Here you can see the rubber tube that is attached to the drain tube usually. Pull this rubber boot out and insert a coat-hanger into the drain hole to scrape away this mess:



Here is a close-up of the gunk that causes the stench. You can remove the 6 or so bolts from around the outer diameter of the fan and pull it out after removing the wire harness. This will allow great access to the evaporator which warms up and causes the "gunk" to start stinkin when the system is in use.

 

That is actually the Evaporator that you speak of in the last picture. The condensor is out in front of the radiator.

 

Thanks I was trying to remember the correct terminology when I typed that up. I guess that's what's called a brain fart.

 

Spraying lysol down the vents is most likely going to be a temporary cover-up. The barteria that can form on the evaporator or heater coils reacts to the changes in temp (hence why it comes and goes sometimes). Spraying lysol over the coils won't do diddly as far as killing it. There is special cleaner for air coils used in the HVAC industry and you need direct access to the coils to use it.

Now, the built up garbage like in that picture is totally different. That is just nasty. I would open up all the access paths you can find and clean everything you can see. If that doesn't make the smell go away, then your coils are probably infested.

 

I found that after parking in the college parking lot under trees all day my truck seemed to accumilate lots of trash and other stuff in the evaporator. This one day I just got sick of the smell and went home and tore into it. This nasty wad is what I discovered, and it's petrified contents made the smell go completly away. Now any time I get a sniff of any foul odors in the truck (other than my own) I remove the blower motor assembly and check the evaporator. I'll usually find something, and it gives me a good opportunity to inspect and spray down with Lysol real well. I do this about as often as I check my transmission fluid (about every other time the hood is popped, probably once a week).

 

You check your transmission fluid and evaporator coil once a week?

 

Not necessarily these two specific items, but I pop the hood of my truck and my wife's car at LEAST once a week to check fluids and perform minor maintanence. Don't you ever pop your hood and check oil/tranny fluid when you're fillin up at a gas station? I never see people do that these days, and I always get wierd looks like I'm doing something wrong when I pop mine and check fluid levels. After all, the truck does run on fluids and since it's a mechanical machine with moving parts it will wear and require maintaining. Since I'm solely responsible for the safety of myself and my family, along with making sure we're safe when we least expect it, I make for damn sure the job is done right if anyone but myself touches my cars more than just riding in one. I have an 8 month old baby who needs me for the rest of my life. Taking an extra 10 seconds to walk around the truck and do a visual inspection of tires and checking for any spilled fluids under the truck has become a thing of habit. If preventative maintenance or a good habit of visual inspection will save my or my wife's lives, I'm all for it.

 

Nope! Probably should though.