As car owners, does your car’s ac evaporator produce weak, inadequate, inconsistent, or less cool air? Or does your vehicle smell bad?
If yes, then your car’s air conditioner evaporator system, ac evaporator core, or heater blower motor has gotten dirty. You need to check it for maintenance and clean it immediately, as this would save money. Who would not want a properly working ac system while driving in heat?
AC evaporators, while trying to keep your car cool, produce moisture due to humid air and allow buildups in the evaporator core. At times, this moisture will prepare the conditions for creating mildew and mold.
These molds and mildews can prevent your ac evaporator coils from functioning correctly and also cause it to have an unpleasant odor. Only cleaning will solve your ac evaporator coil problem. However, how often should cleaning be an option?
If the atmosphere in which you drive your vehicle is prone to dirt, dust, and humidity, then you should clean the air conditioning system and evaporator core of your vehicle once every month. In that case, cleaning it once every three months would be sufficient, and it would be an opportunity to save money.
Since you will need to do the cleaning job a lot, it is not a good idea to refer to a mechanic each time due to the labor cost. Instead, please read this article to learn the best way to clean a car’s ac evaporator coil without removing it.
How To Clean AC Evaporator System Without Removing
Before getting to the cleaning part, let’s see what equipment you will need in removing your evaporator coils:
(prepare the following materials)
- A nozzle
- A screwdriver
- Ac evaporator cleaner
That would be it. Now, let’s see how you can clean the car’s air conditioner evaporator and evaporator coils.
Step #1: Reach The Evaporator Machine
It is time to put your engineering hat on. Since there are thousands of different car models, we can’t recommend a unique way to reach the ac coils. However, the best solution is to investigate and examine your car’s air conditioning system’s access point to reach the evaporator machine and check the evaporator coil and evaporator core.
Look for it in the firewall that separates the engine section from the passenger part. The cover that protrudes from the firewall has the air (or heat) blower connected to it. You undoubtedly know it.
This box is easily removable. However, since each car company has its own way of manufacturing these, we need to figure out how. Once you have removed the plastic box, you will reach a resistor block.
If you noticed a blower fan after you removed the plastic cover box or the resistor block and resistor unit, then remove that too.
If you noticed a blower fan after you removed the plastic cover box or the resistor block, then remove that too.
Generally, our goal is to reach the evaporator machine. So, if you confront anything detachable, remove it. Remember how everything was in the first place, and be gentle.
Step #2: Time To Use Ac Evaporator Cleaner
Now that you have built a way to reach the car ac evaporator machine use it to clean the evaporator core. Spray the cleaner toward the evaporator machine using a spray bottle. Keep spraying until you are sure that the whole surface of the evaporator core is covered.
If you have yet to use an ac evaporator cleaner, they are foam. Don’t worry that the foam may destroy your evaporator coil when spraying with a spray bottle. Evaporator coil cleaners come in foam form so that they stick to the surface and ultimately kill all the bacteria.
After you have covered the whole surface of the evaporator machine with cleaning foam, leave it like this for 20 to 30 minutes. These foamy soaps will slowly turn into liquid and come out through the openings, like the engine compartment.
Step #3: Spray Water On Car Ac Evaporator
After the cleaner has turned into liquid and is completely gone, it is time to wash the car ac evaporator. You can use a water hose like a garden hose, but a nozzle is more convenient and manageable than regular evaporator cleaners.
If you find a nozzle, pour water, get your spray bottle filled, and spray it on the evaporator coil. One good way to know if you have washed the evaporator coil properly is to check how it smells.
If it has a strong odor from the evaporator cleaner, you better keep washing it. However, the odor doesn’t need to be wiped out completely. As soon as it is not strong, you can stop washing it.
Step #4: Re-Attach Everything You Removed
If you have removed the blower fan, start by connecting it. Then place the resistor block in its position, and finish the job by placing the plastic cover box in its place.
Also, if you have disconnected anything else, reconnect it and ensure you have done it correctly.
Step #5: Test The Car Ac Evaporator
After doing all this work, you deserve a good result. Start your car and turn on the car ac evaporator. Test the car’s ac evaporator to see if it has lost the bad smell or is now strong and consistent.
The foul smell should be gone because cleaners kill any bacteria, mildew, or mold. The air conditioner’s evaporator should also function better now. After all, a lot of parasites are gone.
However, if your ac evaporator coils originally had a performance problem, and this problem wasn’t solved by simple steps like cleaning, you need to refer to a mechanic.
Wrap Up
It’s possible that the ac system in your car will get dirty if the evaporator in it has a lot of moisture in it or if the environment in which you drive has a lot of dust and humidity. Because of this, the air conditioner might not work well or emit an unpleasant odor.
Cleaning it is the only solution available. It is not a job that requires a lot of effort or skill; consequently, anyone can do it. In addition, the fact that we will need this quite a bit suggests that everyone should learn it.
Because of this, we decided to create this guide to teach anyone interested in how to clean an auto ac system evaporator without taking it apart. The work is relatively straightforward.
To begin, you must make your way to the evaporator machine. After that, spray the cleaner foam over the entire surface of the evaporator and wait thirty minutes before continuing. The next step is to clean the evaporator. You can atomize water onto the evaporator by making use of a nozzle.
You are free to stop washing your car as soon as you detect that the strong smell left behind by the cleaner has drained away. The last thing you need to do is reconnect everything you previously removed. You can easily clean your air conditioner with an evaporator coil cleaner if you follow these simple steps and enjoy a properly functioning air conditioning system.