6th Gen ('00-'05): Fan blowing wet air
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 73
The fan still blows wet air and it smells moldy too. The cabin filter is clean and dry so I'm going to check the drain from the vents and clean them. The coolant overflow container need to be removed to access the drain. Does the coolant need to be drained to do that? Or can the container be moved aside? Has anyone done that before? Thanks
Monte Of The Month -- January 2016
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,293
From: Pacific NW
As I recall you had a similar problem a while back, but there was water on the floor and it turned out to be the heater core: https://montecarloforum.com/forum/mo...ke-fish-55726/
Sounds like the A/C evaporator drain is clogged causing mold/ mildew to form on the evaporator and air vents. The coolant has nothing to do with A/C. There's a black rubber elbow about 3/4" o.d. in the engine compartment on the firewall that comes out of the evaporator case. It's a little hard to reach. It's about a foot below the alternator, above the steering pump. The elbow just pulls off. The elbow itself may contain the blockage of mildew and slime and water will drain out when you pull it off. If not, use compressed air to blow into the opening and stir things up. In some cases you need to wiggle a wire around in the hole to loosen the blockage up, but be carefull not to damage the evaporator, then flush out with low volume water through a small hose.
Here's a how to video on a similar car without the elbow:
Mildew and smell will remain on the evaporator and air vents so you need to follow up with a A/C evaporator and vent cleaner. I find this to be one of the few that actually works (see link below), and in several cases like yours you may need 2 cans. Hard to find in stores. https://www.amazon.com/einszett-9611...=klima+cleaner
Do not spray it through the air vents like one video on YouTube demonstrates. Here's the manufacture's tutorial: How To Apply Klima-Cleaner Professional
The best way is to remove the blower fan motor. Not that hard. Here's how:
Please keep us posted
Sounds like the A/C evaporator drain is clogged causing mold/ mildew to form on the evaporator and air vents. The coolant has nothing to do with A/C. There's a black rubber elbow about 3/4" o.d. in the engine compartment on the firewall that comes out of the evaporator case. It's a little hard to reach. It's about a foot below the alternator, above the steering pump. The elbow just pulls off. The elbow itself may contain the blockage of mildew and slime and water will drain out when you pull it off. If not, use compressed air to blow into the opening and stir things up. In some cases you need to wiggle a wire around in the hole to loosen the blockage up, but be carefull not to damage the evaporator, then flush out with low volume water through a small hose.
Here's a how to video on a similar car without the elbow:
Mildew and smell will remain on the evaporator and air vents so you need to follow up with a A/C evaporator and vent cleaner. I find this to be one of the few that actually works (see link below), and in several cases like yours you may need 2 cans. Hard to find in stores. https://www.amazon.com/einszett-9611...=klima+cleaner
Do not spray it through the air vents like one video on YouTube demonstrates. Here's the manufacture's tutorial: How To Apply Klima-Cleaner Professional
The best way is to remove the blower fan motor. Not that hard. Here's how:
Please keep us posted
Last edited by plumbob; Aug 16, 2016 at 06:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 73
Cleaning the condenser drain was easy. After a half hour of trying to remove the rubber drain by hand (I could just touch it with my fingers) I broke out the socket set and removed the support strut and the overflow tank that are in the way. It took 2 minutes. For some reason. I thought the overflow tank would be a big deal but it's barely held on and moves easily.
The drain plug had a piece of plastic in it. It looked like part of a label. It fell out to quickly for me to tell if is was blocking the drain. No water came out. A pipe cleaner jammed up in the vent itself didn't encounter any blockage either. It smelled fine this morning. I hope the plastic was the problem or maybe the car gods are just having fun with me.
While the drain was exposed, I figured I shoot some condensor/evaporator cleaning foam up in there so I pedaled my bike over to Pep Boys to get some. Neither Pep Boys or O'Riellys had heard of the stuff. Even when I showed them pics. I went ahead and ordered some from Amazon. Next weekend I'll use the foam.
The drain plug had a piece of plastic in it. It looked like part of a label. It fell out to quickly for me to tell if is was blocking the drain. No water came out. A pipe cleaner jammed up in the vent itself didn't encounter any blockage either. It smelled fine this morning. I hope the plastic was the problem or maybe the car gods are just having fun with me.
While the drain was exposed, I figured I shoot some condensor/evaporator cleaning foam up in there so I pedaled my bike over to Pep Boys to get some. Neither Pep Boys or O'Riellys had heard of the stuff. Even when I showed them pics. I went ahead and ordered some from Amazon. Next weekend I'll use the foam.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 73
Just to finish this thread. The low coolant message and the wet air were noticed on the same day but were unrelated. The low coolant sensor went out. That was that.
The wet air/moldy smell from vents has improved somewhat after shooting some cleaning foam in the drain yesterday. Mold on the condenser is most likely causing the smell. I don't have too much faith in the foam. Removing mold usually requires some serious scrubbing. Hopefully using the heater throughout the winter will kill off the mold.
As for the wet air, I think going back and forth between using the air conditioner and just the blower is the problem. When I turn off the air conditioner, condensation starts to form on the condenser and that water is then picked up and blown through the vents making everything a bit damp. Unpleasant, but as long as it's not coolant, I can live with it.
The wet air/moldy smell from vents has improved somewhat after shooting some cleaning foam in the drain yesterday. Mold on the condenser is most likely causing the smell. I don't have too much faith in the foam. Removing mold usually requires some serious scrubbing. Hopefully using the heater throughout the winter will kill off the mold.
As for the wet air, I think going back and forth between using the air conditioner and just the blower is the problem. When I turn off the air conditioner, condensation starts to form on the condenser and that water is then picked up and blown through the vents making everything a bit damp. Unpleasant, but as long as it's not coolant, I can live with it.