Ok, problem. I have a '98 Expedition and I have two friends with a '97 F-150 and the other a new '99 F-250 Super Duty. The problem that we are all having is when we turn the HVAC system on, it stinks like a dirty toilet! I know that mildew builds up on the evaporator coils when the A/C is on causing this, but how do you fix this? We have tried spraying an entire can of Lysol in the outside air intake while the fan was on high. This helps for about 2 days, but now it's back worse than ever. What can we do?

 

Ford has issued TSBs on this problem.

 

The owners manual talks about this problem. If you leave the selector dial to max ac or off the system doesn't get a chanc to dry out and mold/mildew build up. Try leaving the dial on vent or floor for a while to se if it will dry out.

 

 

Basically because NipponDenso engineers are some kind of idiots.

Shortly after A/C became common in automobiles some bright young engineer realized that in the process of the A/C cooling the incoming airflow it oftentimes also dehumidified it. And that of course helps prevent and remove condensation from the interior windshield surface. So from that time on, until about the mid-eighties, it became pretty standard to use the A/C, supplemented by lots of heat, whenever the defrost/defog/demist function was activated at least as long as the A/C was functionally effective, usually only above about 50 degrees F.

Then some idiot decided that if a little bit of something was good then a LOT would be excellent!

NOT!!!

If you wish to use the A/C below 50F (when the RH is usually below 50% anyway, with a few regional exceptions)to dehumidify the airflow then the system must become SUPER EFFICIENT.

The A/C evaporator, the device that does ALL the work, cooling and dehumidifying, cannot be chilled below freezing. So that leaves very few ways to increase its efficiency, my 92 LS400 evaporator is extremely dense and complex, over 10,000 square inches of surface area. The longer the air molecules take to move through the evaporator the colder they become, so in order for the system to work the airflow must be very low.

The entire Lexus product line uses the A/C system EXCLUSIVELY to help prevent and remove condensation from the interior surface of the windshield in defrost/defog/demist mode, a system which is entirely NON-FUNCTIONAL for this purpose with outside temperatures near, at, or below freezing.

So if you hear of someone inexplicably leaving the roadbed and being killed on a snowy and cold day driving a Lexus or Toyota think about this. Maybe s/he lost sight of the roadbed because his/her windshield fogged over virtually instantaneously.

And now along comes toxic mold to further muddy up the issue. Prior to the mid-eighties there was no reason to run an A/C below about 50F, so heat was used exclusively heat the windshield and evaporate condensation from its surface and to lower the relative humidity.

Above these (50F) ambient temperatures when the A/C was used what moisture that was condensed onto the evaporator vanes but didn't run out the drain tube would evaporate away fairly quickly and not cause a problem.

Remember that extremely dense and complex A/C evaporator in my 92 LS400? It came from the factory coated with a porous nylon film into which was embedded an ant-microbial substance.

In the summer of 1991 Lexus already knew that their use of the A/C in already cool climates for these purposes was creating an environment, cool, damp, dank, that encouraged mold and mildew growth.

Look around on the internet at just how many products that have been developed in the last ten years or so to combat the "gym sock syndrome", the mold and mildew smell we all now have to live with because some idiot engineer decided to try a new gimmick.

Remove you A/C compressor relay when the ambient temperature fall below an average of 50F. And turn up the system heat when you activate defrost/defog/demist mode. The response you get for removing condensation from the interior surface of the windshield will be one damnsight quicker than the A/C can EVER be, and it will continue to work that way all the way down to sub-freezing levels.

AND you won't have to worry about toxic mold.

 

Paul, I have done it all. Everything the owners manual tells you to do, everything the service manager suggest you do, even suggestions from other people that have the same vehicle and that think they may have the fix. The dealership has treated this truck 3 or 4 times for this problem. It's going back again and this time they are going to have to do something different. I'll keep you posted. Good luck. Jake.