A/C suddenly smells terrible!

[roaniecowpony]

See this thread. JL 2019 AC Smells | Jeep Wrangler Forums (JL / JLU) - Rubicon, Sahara, Sport, 4xe, 392 - JLwranglerforums.com

Here's the procedure from the manual.

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[WhereRU_A-A-Ron]

See this thread. JL 2019 AC Smells | Jeep Wrangler Forums (JL / JLU) - Rubicon, Sahara, Sport, 4xe, 392 - JLwranglerforums.com

Here's the procedure from the manual.

Incredibly helpful. I suppose I’ve “checked” the cowl but I didn’t do anything other than a visual inspection. Maybe something got in there while I was parked at work?

 

[roaniecowpony]

Incredibly helpful. I suppose I’ve “checked” the cowl but I didn’t do anything other than a visual inspection. Maybe something got in there while I was parked at work?

The outer cowl grid is plastic and comes off very easily with a plastic blade. The cowl grid/screen below that has push pins that you lift to remove. Probably worth taking another look and vacuum what you can. I need to do the vacuum part. I see a bunch of small pepper corns from a tree in there.

The blower motor is under the dash on the passenger side and you should be able to drop it easily according to the manual (other pages I didn't post).

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Just happened in my wife’s Tahoe. I changed the cabin filter behind the glove box. Super easy on JL, pretty much a PITA on the Tahoe. Anyway, the smell went away.

This. Start with the simple things first.

 

[roaniecowpony]

On a past truck, I located the optimum place to squirt the evaporator cleaning foam and drilled a small hole, just large enough for the hose that came with the cleaner. I covered that hole with electrical tape. But it allowed me to clean the evaporator every season.

You don't want your evaporator to get like the one on the left. You can't clean that level of contamination without removing it and even then it's iffy. I had to change one in an old car once due to contamination similar to that.

 

[OhioJeeper]

You can also get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQWY7SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plug it in, turn it on for 20 minutes and run the A/C on recirc. Gets rid of smells.
People use them in crawl spaces, rental homes, etc. Air out vehicle before use.

 

[roaniecowpony]

You can also get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQWY7SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plug it in, turn it on for 20 minutes and run the A/C on recirc. Gets rid of smells.
People use them in crawl spaces, rental homes, etc. Air out vehicle before use.

Didn't someone on this forum use ozone for something and it killed the elastic in the door nets?

 

[Shibadog]

Clean the evaporator, and make sure there isn't a dead mouse in there anywhere.

This-dead critter will run you out.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Ozone will make the soft plastic sticky and ruin the clear plastic on gauges and soft top windows. It's a used car lot trick, be careful if you try it. It might fix the smell, but not the cause.

 

[Heimkehr]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQWY7SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plug it in, turn it on for 20 minutes and run the A/C on recirc. Gets rid of smells.
People use them in crawl spaces, rental homes, etc. Air out vehicle before use.

Proceed with caution. From experience: while ozone generators do work for purpose, quite well in many instances, they must be used very carefully. The informed owner may want to consider the wisdom of using one on the interior of a modern vehicle at all.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I've used these in the past. But you can buy larger cans at home depot for cheap.

I've used this one a couple times too.
Amazon.com: Lubegard 96030 Kool-It Evaporator and Heater Foam Cleaner : Automotive

 

[Shibadog]

Incredibly helpful. I suppose I’ve “checked” the cowl but I didn’t do anything other than a visual inspection. Maybe something got in there while I was parked at work?

A “friend” at work may have helped you out. Many (many!) moons ago a stunt to get folks you didn’t like was to place a small piece of Limburger cheese in the cowl. It tended t give a rather pungent aroma when the heat was on?. Guy did it to my buddy’s ‘57. It stunk to high heaven. When we finally found the “source” it wasn’t much bigger around then your thumbnail. Check the cowl area!

 

[roaniecowpony]

Incredibly helpful. I suppose I’ve “checked” the cowl but I didn’t do anything other than a visual inspection. Maybe something got in there while I was parked at work?

Here's the procedure to remove the cowl.

 

[WhereRU_A-A-Ron]

Alright. Final verdict is in:

Checked the cowl area and nothing obvious stuck out. I gave it a good clean out though and changed the cabin air filter. It got significantly better. This afternoon I got in the Jeep to drive and - boom - smell is completely gone.

My wife - who is a genius - pointed out something to me that should have been really obvious:

The day before this all went down I cleaned my rifle in the garage. I use Ballistol and even though I never use a lot, I think some of it made it into the air and onto the Jeep cowl area? That’s the only “thing” that I can think of that was different about the day before. Though I’m still not 100% sure that was the issue.

I’d done this plenty of times before with my old vehicle and no issues. But then again, no vehicle I’ve ever drive before had such an exposed cowl area. Lesson learned I guess. I’ll be cleaning my guns on the back porch from now on.

 

[Shibadog]

Alright. Final verdict is in:

Checked the cowl area and nothing obvious stuck out. I gave it a good clean out though and changed the cabin air filter. It got significantly better. This afternoon I got in the Jeep to drive and - boom - smell is completely gone.

My wife - who is a genius - pointed out something to me that should have been really obvious:

The day before this all went down I cleaned my rifle in the garage. I use Ballistol and even though I never use a lot, I think some of it made it into the air and onto the Jeep cowl area? That’s the only “thing” that I can think of that was different about the day before. Though I’m still not 100% sure that was the issue.

I’d done this plenty of times before with my old vehicle and no issues. But then again, no vehicle I’ve ever drive before had such an exposed cowl area. Lesson learned I guess. I’ll be cleaning my guns on the back porch from now on.

Silly boy, next time use Hoppe’s #9-that’ll clear your sinuses?. Seriously though, glad it worked out for you.

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