Goss' Garage: Cleaning Your HVAC System

Pat Goss has advice on keeping your car's HVAC system operating properly.

[discerningmind]

This segment is for half asleep arm chair guys. Not enough information so it's just something to ponder. Goss said the drill the hole where the instructions tell you to. What instructions? I'm with the group below that knows it's safer to access through the drain hole, and I'd use a long hose for better coverage. But have a good look at your system. In my car all I had to do was take out the blower unit and the evaporator was exposed. Don't worry about cleaning the heater core because the evaporator always comes first in the air flow and that catches all the debris that you need to clean out. A lot of build up can be avoided if the cowl area at the base of the windshield on the outside of the car is kept clean. People that have an odorous build up always seem to have all kinds of leaves and twigs layered up over the cowl area, or they always leave the system set to recirculate. Running the system on fresh most of the time is better unless it's really hot outdoors and you need to use the recirculate setting. The fresh air setting will leave a cleaner smelling cabin and the windows won't fog.

[tongkatali]

Just enough info to get me in a lot of trouble. Where do I drill that hole? Do I have to rinse the foam out? I have an ‘03 F150 with no drain hose, just a short end of a pipe sticking through the firewall that’s really hard to reach

[zech]

Instead drilling a hole in your hvac its better to pump it though the AC evap drain.

[goulartaf]

What do you do if you suspect possibly mice getting into the system?

[sunsetoriginals]

"This episode of motor trend has been brought to you by mean frigiclean!!!

[MrJohnnyDistortion]

Will a clogged dirty evaporator cause warm air at a light then cold air when moving?

[jameseiden]

Where do we get instruction for a 2011 Durango

[fredieguerra]

is that a Chevy Cavalier dash? looks brand new.

[bnegarza]

How do you put the fridge clean through the valve

[aWhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

What does that cleaner do to your blower motor though?

[BluePlanetDrone]

How can I find a local shop (30046) that can perform this service ?

[BigBarnV]

Why wouldn’t they just use the hole where the water comes out instead of drilling a hole in the box?

[mhsvz]

Would have been helpful if you had shown how to access the big black part.

[noseefood]

just spray some lysol into the fresh air intake register while running heat ot a/c full blast. done!

[leemoknows]

You didn't really tell us what happens before we give it back to our customer..? Do you rinse it out? Vacuum it out? Does it dissipate as the HVAC system is used?

[Andrew-zvfm]

Good video and all, but what about cars that have a cabin air filter?

[TAEbot]

How much does this service cost to do?

[Bytrl]

Presented a full dash as if the type of person watching a DIY evaporator cleaning video isnt going to know what a dashboard is. Frankly, those are the type of people that shouldn't be driving anymore.

[TheWhiteAfghan]

Why not just hook it up to evap drain line instead of possibly causing a permanent leak in the interior of your car...

[tomw]

This stuff doesn’t work It’s a temporary fix. smell comes back after a couple days