2000 Chrysler Voyager-Interior Smell

Recently bought a 2000 Chrysler Voyager. It now has developed a very bad
smell in the passenger compartment now that the perfume the dealer sprayed
inside is gone. So far, I have not been able to track it down, but it
appears to come from the A/C vents. Is there a filter somewhere we need to
change? The owners manual doesn't list one. Any help most appreciated, as
we need the A/C in this hot weather.

Thanks

JMC

 

That is a common problem in some climates, it probably smells like old gym
socks, eh?

It is caused by the growth of mold in the evaporator core and the box that
the evap
core is in. If you use the AC a lot and don't shut it down properly this
happens.

What you should do with AC is that when you have finished driving the car
for
the day, and are going to leave it for a long period, (like overnight) you
need to
park, then turn off the AC then run the blower fan on high for about 5
minutes,
or maybe even put the vent on hot, high. Otherwise what happens is that you
leave condensate water in the evap core and the water takes a long, long
time
to dry out, and meanwhile any spores/fungus/crud from the outside or inside
air
that has been circulating in the system, take all that yummy water and grow
and
germinate and cause lots of stink.

Once you have a nice crop of mold in there, then it's hopeless. Worse, the
mold
can grow to the point that the condensate drain hole plugs up, and then the
condensate water has no place to go and will just stay in there and help the
mold
to grow that much faster.

The only real solution is to tear apart the dash and open up the box the
evap core
is in and give everything a nice good washdown, preferably in bleach water.

There are a few companies that make a foam that you drill a hole in the evap
core
box (not in the core itself!) and squirt the foam in there, the foam then
supposedly
kills all the mold and then washes it all down the condensate drain hole.
The foam
is probably some kind of bleach mixture, no doubt. Same stuff you spray on
your shower grout to kill the mold there, too, probably.

Call some auto detailing places in your area, and find one that has dealt
successfully
with this problem and will warranty it.

Ted

 

When I first read this, the movie Dirty Old Men came to mind (dead fish
under the back seat..... ; )

 

As usual, he has been told to put up with a piss-poor design by Chrysler.
Rick

That is a common problem in some climates, it probably smells like old gym
socks, eh?

It is caused by the growth of mold in the evaporator core and the box that
the evap
core is in. If you use the AC a lot and don't shut it down properly this
happens.

What you should do with AC is that when you have finished driving the car
for
the day, and are going to leave it for a long period, (like overnight) you
need to
park, then turn off the AC then run the blower fan on high for about 5
minutes,
or maybe even put the vent on hot, high. Otherwise what happens is that you
leave condensate water in the evap core and the water takes a long, long
time
to dry out, and meanwhile any spores/fungus/crud from the outside or inside
air
that has been circulating in the system, take all that yummy water and grow
and
germinate and cause lots of stink.

Once you have a nice crop of mold in there, then it's hopeless. Worse, the
mold
can grow to the point that the condensate drain hole plugs up, and then the
condensate water has no place to go and will just stay in there and help the
mold
to grow that much faster.

The only real solution is to tear apart the dash and open up the box the
evap core
is in and give everything a nice good washdown, preferably in bleach water.

There are a few companies that make a foam that you drill a hole in the evap
core
box (not in the core itself!) and squirt the foam in there, the foam then
supposedly
kills all the mold and then washes it all down the condensate drain hole.
The foam
is probably some kind of bleach mixture, no doubt. Same stuff you spray on
your shower grout to kill the mold there, too, probably.

Call some auto detailing places in your area, and find one that has dealt
successfully
with this problem and will warranty it.

Ted