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2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Heater Smell, Redux

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Matt42

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Has anyone tried the Mopar A/C evaporator cleaner aerosol treatment on the heater core? If so, where did it get sprayed in?



Here's the link for the treatment: http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1997/24-11-97.htm



The smell I am getting can be described as wet wool, or perhaps musty. My daughter thinks it's sawdust. It seems to diminish after we have operated the heater for a few minutes. Operating the defroster *does not* fog up the windshield. Before the smell diminishes, it's terrible! My daughter and I just returned from a trip to the SW CO mountains and we used the heater only when we got too cold in the cab.



The smell isn't the sick-sweet smell of anti-freeze. With some imagination, I suppose it could be described as burned antifreeze. But the antifreeze level in the overflow tank doesn't seem to drop.



I want to fix the smell, if I can, without yanking out the whole hvac (lowercase) assembly. It does have A/C, which complicates it.



Any thoughts will be appreciated.
 
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Matt,



My 1995 truck had a musty smell within the first year. The dealer covered it under warranty. They sprayed some kind of fungicide, or something similar, into the air intake. It cured the problem, and it hasn't come back. Nothing was sprayed directly onto the heater core.



My understanding is that there is an air plenum that can collect moisture when the air conditioning is running. This place stays wet and tends to grow fungus and/or mold. (I don't remember my biology... Are they the same things?) Treating this plenum killed the fugus in my case.



Some drivers recommend turning off the air conditioning for several minutes prior to shutting down the truck. This will allow the moisture to evaporate. I haven't had to do that, but it's probably a good idea. If you do, remember that on the newer trucks which do not have the separate fan control for air conditioning (blue and red areas on the fan control switch) the only positions that shut off the air conditioning compressor are OFF and FLOOR ONLY.



At least one thread has recommended Lysol. I would recommend a search for "smell" or something similar.



Good luck.



Loren
 
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