Moldy a/c smell

[Ford Motor Company]

Was there ever a fix for this? My 2022 just started this and only smells in the first few seconds when the AC is on. I see water under the truck so I don’t think the drain is clogged.

Hi there! Will you send us a message with your VIN and your local Ford dealer? I can look into things on my end.

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[Kshort62]

So , have had my truck back 4 days from the dealership, the smell/odor has returned already … the cabin air filter is a brand new carbon infused air filter , the deodorizer they is already gone.. (it just masks the odor). I’m at the end of my rope with this truck… I just want it fixed enough to trade the damn thing off … dealer said he would give me a cash estimate but it was so low it was insulting …

 

[DcnPat]

Mine has started this. Seems to me a less than 18 month from delivery truck with about 15,000 miles shouldn't have musty smells from the hvac. Drain drains so I'm at a loss for a reasonable explanation.

I'm thinking a design issue but what do I know?

 

[Kshort62]

I was given a case number and Ford Customer Experience Specialist was supposed to be in touch with me … it’s been almost a month and crickets …

 

[BlindSnapper]

I’m just adding my comment hear because I want to follow along.
I’ve used Lysol in the past and it worked pretty good. I ran the ac on hot for about 30 minutes spraying the Lysol every 5 minutes into the intake while not on circulation. It lasted a month or so. This summer I tried to do a quick Lysol job and it lasted maybe a day or so.
this weekend I’ll check the ac drain with a nylon pipe cleaner and camera then put a 90 on it. I’ll also service the cabin after and run the 30 minute Lysol job and see how it goes. I’ll report back.
Ford should really address this. It impacts all F series and I rented and expedition in Hawaii last month and it was horrible. This can’t be an isolated issue.

 

[Truckguy24]

Are you just shutting the vehicle off with the AC running? It's going to be an issue in just about every single vehicle.

To prevent the AC smell, it's good practice to shut the AC off a couple minutes before you get to your destination and let the fan run to dry off the evaporator coils. Never ever had it come back. The only time I had it was when I bought two used vehicles over the years, and clearly the other people didn't do what I outlined above. Cleaned it with Lysol, and do my normal AC shutdown before my destination I've never had the smell come back.

 

[Texas2022XLT]

So here is my take on what I did last weekend.

I removed the cabin filter and the cowl outside. I sprayed AC Vent Pro into the outside intake, about 2/3 of the can while running. I let that run for 5mins then turned it off and sprayed a couple of seconds in each vent. The crazy part was the vent on the right side of the steering wheel smelled the worst. I couldn’t really smell any from the others which seemed very odd. I let that sit for about 20mins then turned it back on and sprayed the rest into the outside intake.

The next day I ran an ozone machine for around 20mins for five different times. So far this week and it’s only been a week no smell. I tried the turn the AC off like suggested but in the mornings here the humidity is so bad you can wipe your finger across the console and it would be wet from just a couple of minutes after turning the AC off. Even around the AC vents you would see all the condensation from doing this. In the afternoons it was fine but the mornings it just won’t work. I installed a new cabin filter as well.

I’m running the AC on auto and keeping the temp at 72. I’ll see how long this last but the next thing is to drill a hole into the HVAC box and spray the evaporator with one of the cleaning foams if it come back. I’ve had several Fords but never this issue.

 

[Spiller]

I saw this "fix" in a thread somewhere, and found this video on youtube.




My hole and entire plug head is above the white sticker - so top middle of the flat front plastic section that is front most on the left side of the glove box. Not on the side / not on the curved section (moving more toward right), not behind the filter (right side).

Drill the 1/4" hole carefully very little push pressure as you don't want the drill bit to go too far into the cavity once it fully pierces through. Also slowly back out the bit with very slow speed to try to get the plastic pieces out with the bit and not let them fall in (though probably wouldn't matter too much). I only let the foam sit for about 3 min before turning on AC on full again. If you freeze the video on the instructions I followed that. But next time I'll let it sit 20 minutes not 3.

Then I used 1/4" Ford trim clip (plastic) to plug the hole after I did this procedure. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BLLKKZ9B?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

I used nextzett Klima Cleaner Pro as it comes with the long tube. Bought two cans but only used one.

You don't need to take any parts off like in the video. Just take off the glove box.

There was still a "funny" smell after I did this for a couple of weeks. Not the mildew / musky smell. So maybe it was the cleaner smell. But now it's great for the first time in 2 years (I have a '21). In the middle of hot humid summer and smell hasn't come back after 2 months so far. But if I have to do this once or twice a year for about $35 a can I have no issue with that. Not wasting time or money at the dealer. Dealer quoted me $270 for ac evap cleaning. They probably just spray the can of fridgifresh spray (like lysol) in there (not the foam one) and give the truck back to you $270 later.

EDIT: I also sprayed fridgifresh spray (not foam) in the cowl, about 4 seconds each spot all along the length of the intake. I did that first, didn't work. A week later when I did the foam in the evap I redid the spray in the cowl at the same time, also changed the cabin filter same time.

 

[Spiller]

Ozone machine will break down the plastics in your cab so I'd be careful with that method.

 

[Texas2022XLT]

I saw this "fix" in a thread somewhere, and found this video on youtube.

I did this. I drilled the hole here (red circle marks the spot).

View attachment 157229



Drill the 1/4" hole carefully very little push pressure as you don't want the drill bit to go too far into the cavity once it fully pierces through. Also slowly back out the bit with very slow speed to try to get the plastic pieces out with the bit and not let them fall in (though probably wouldn't matter too much). I only let the foam sit for about 3 min before turning on AC on full again. If you freeze the video on the instructions I followed that. But next time I'll let it sit 20 minutes not 3.

Then I used 1/4" Ford trim clip (plastic) to plug the hole after I did this procedure. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BLLKKZ9B?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

I used nextzett Klima Cleaner Pro as it comes with the long tube. Bought two cans but only used one.

You don't need to take any parts off like in the video. Take out the the glove box, drill where I did or where the guy in the video drilled.

There was still a "funny" smell after I did this for a couple of weeks. Not the mildew / musky smell. So maybe it was the cleaner smell. But now it's great for the first time in 2 years (I have a '21). In the middle of hot humid summer and smell hasn't come back after 2 months so far. But if I have to do this once or twice a year for about $35 a can I have no issue with that. Not wasting time or money at the dealer. Dealer quoted me $270 for ac evap cleaning. They probably just spray the can of fridgifresh spray (like lysol) in there (not the foam one) and give the truck back to you $270 later.

Funny I’m about to do this in about 30mins. I actually drilled two holes, one where you did and one in the front. I got two cans of the Klima and plan on spraying both holes.

 

[Texas2022XLT]

Ozone machine will break down the plastics in your cab so I'd be careful with that method.

Yeah it worked for about a week but came back. Even the instructions said it couldn’t get in that area very well. Doing the foam this afternoon.

 

[Spiller]

Yeah it worked for about a week but came back. Even the instructions said it couldn’t get in that area very well. Doing the foam this afternoon.

Report back in a couple of weeks. I pulled down my image where i marked the red circle as it wasn't correct. I did the hole more on the front left side after looking at it again. Two cans will certainly fill it up. Were you able to get two full cans in at the same time without it forcing out the holes where you had the tubes go in?

 

[J17GT]

Are you just shutting the vehicle off with the AC running? It's going to be an issue in just about every single vehicle.

To prevent the AC smell, it's good practice to shut the AC off a couple minutes before you get to your destination and let the fan run to dry off the evaporator coils. Never ever had it come back. The only time I had it was when I bought two used vehicles over the years, and clearly the other people didn't do what I outlined above. Cleaned it with Lysol, and do my normal AC shutdown before my destination I've never had the smell come back.

Exactly.

 

[Texas2022XLT]

Report back in a couple of weeks. I pulled down my image where i marked the red circle as it wasn't correct. I did the hole more on the front left side after looking at it again. Two cans will certainly fill it up. Were you able to get two full cans in at the same time without it forcing out the holes where you had the tubes go in?

Yes I did a hole on the front side and back side of the evaporator. I did one can on each side and my driveway is sloped so I jack the truck up on one side to make it slope more as I wanted to slow the foam down as it slid down the evaporator. I would spray slow pulling the hose out. Then I waited five minutes and repeated until the can was empty, you get about 5 or 6 coats. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes and moved the truck so the opposite side was sloped and repeated that same process. I never cranked the truck up to blow anything off the evaporator as I wanted it to sit on there as long as possible.

The following morning when I drove it I was shocked on no smell and how clean the air seemed. I didn’t think I was in the same truck. So far this week it has been good so I’m happy with the outcome. Now I’m a little paranoid so I’m doing another round today of foam to make sure I get all the way back on the evaporator. I don’t believe this is needed but after having great results with the first round I figured one more time and then see how it goes. I’m in Texas here so I’ll be using the AC till December. It definitely works and I’m doing the cut the AC off for a couple of minutes to dry off the evaporator some each time I drive to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

Without doing the holes you are wasting your money in my opinion as I tried three different times going through the drain hole with three different brands of foam cleaner. Doing the holes and getting a good coat on the evaporator itself is key. I’ll update at the end of September on how things are going.

 

[Spiller]

Yes I did a hole on the front side and back side of the evaporator. I did one can on each side and my driveway is sloped so I jack the truck up on one side to make it slope more as I wanted to slow the foam down as it slid down the evaporator. I would spray slow pulling the hose out. Then I waited five minutes and repeated until the can was empty, you get about 5 or 6 coats. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes and moved the truck so the opposite side was sloped and repeated that same process. I never cranked the truck up to blow anything off the evaporator as I wanted it to sit on there as long as possible.

The following morning when I drove it I was shocked on no smell and how clean the air seemed. I didn’t think I was in the same truck. So far this week it has been good so I’m happy with the outcome. Now I’m a little paranoid so I’m doing another round today of foam to make sure I get all the way back on the evaporator. I don’t believe this is needed but after having great results with the first round I figured one more time and then see how it goes. I’m in Texas here so I’ll be using the AC till December. It definitely works and I’m doing the cut the AC off for a couple of minutes to dry off the evaporator some each time I drive to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

Without doing the holes you are wasting your money in my opinion as I tried three different times going through the drain hole with three different brands of foam cleaner. Doing the holes and getting a good coat on the evaporator itself is key. I’ll update at the end of September on how things are going.

Fabulous. Glad this is working for you. I find it gets annoying to turn off A/C to dry it out every time. Might just hit it with more foam whenever (if) the moldy smell starts up again. I will get a few more cans to stock while waiting. What did you use this time, Klima or Fridgi or something else?

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