Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,212

    Accessing A/C evaporator core... Mold and Mildew smell

    I rarely ever use the A/C here in Seattle, but whenever I do I get this horrid smell afterwards. Most of you know what I'm talking about. It's beyond putrid in the ZHP. Anyways, I have a little time today and attempted to access the evaporator core.

    Seemed easy with the video below:




    Anyways, in 15 mins I got to the four aluminium tabs that hold the cover into place (in video this is at 2:20). I quickly get rid of those, but the cover is still FIRMLY attached to the surroundings. I used quite a bit of pressure and I can get some space above and below the cover, but it seems like something right in the middle of the cover is holding it in place (feels like it's still attached in the middle somewhere).

    What am I doing wrong and what did I miss? The video does skip a few steps (like removing the dash vent ducts to access the rest of it) so I'm assuming they also missed a step here - like removing the wiring or tabs or something?

    Thanks,
    Fuelly

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,212
    Here's where I'm currently stuck at... Trying to remove the BEHR cover:

    Fuelly

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,212
    Ok. Nevermind... I'm an idiot. I took out the wrong aluminum tabs that were further down than the ones that were holding the shield. You have to move the cables to see them and they are much higher up from the bottom.
    Fuelly

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Central California
    Posts
    687
    My car has that after smell too but I thought it was normal. My Toyota pickup has the smell even worse. It's did it since the day I bought it brand new. Smells fine as long as the ac is on but if I turn it off with the fan still on it will begin to stink within a few miniutes

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Charleston SC
    Posts
    6,149
    You can get a can of spray specifically for that. All you have do is take out the final stage resister and squirt it in. I used this on my old 325i and it worked great
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,212
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave1027 View Post
    My car has that after smell too but I thought it was normal. My Toyota pickup has the smell even worse. It's did it since the day I bought it brand new. Smells fine as long as the ac is on but if I turn it off with the fan still on it will begin to stink within a few miniutes
    Same symptoms here. Except the smell is so strong, I gag if I don't lower the windows.


    Quote Originally Posted by Sockethead View Post
    You can get a can of spray specifically for that. All you have do is take out the final stage resister and squirt it in. I used this on my old 325i and it worked great
    Yep, I saw that method as well. Although it's quicker, I think it would be much harder to clean the core spraying it from the side. Mine smells so bad, I wanted to make sure I get it all. Right now I'm playing the waiting game before I rinse and air it out.
    Fuelly

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