When Your Nose Knows Something’s Wrong
After plunking down $20,000, one of the greatest sources of joy for most auto-buyers is that “new-car smell.”
But what happens when the aroma begins to resemble a locker room or a mushroom farm after mildew begins to grow in a car’s air-conditioning system? It’s more than a mere disappointment for many motorists who suffer from allergic reactions.
I recently received a letter from a Seal Beach woman, complaining her Mitsubishi Galant has begun to smell like fungus. She wonders whether it is safe to breathe and how to eliminate the problem.
The problem begins on the so-called evaporator core inside the air-conditioning system. The evaporator core is buried inside or under the dashboard. It looks like a small radiator, with cooling fins separated by fluid lines.
The evaporator core contains refrigerant that cools air blown over it by an electric fan. Any time warm, humid air blows over a cold dry surface, water will condense.
The water is supposed to drain off the core and through a tube to the ground, which is why pools form under cars on hot summer days when air-conditioning systems are used. But invariably, the core stays wet after the air conditioner is turned off.
The wet surface is a perfect breeding ground for mildew, which is a form of fungus, a primitive plant life that can cause allergic reactions in some people.
Not all cars develop the problem because some cores drain better. And some metal surface treatments are better at warding off the formation of mildew.
One easy solution is to simply turn off the air conditioner but keep the fan blowing for several minutes before you turn off the car. The idea is to dry off the core and eliminate the breeding ground for the mildew.
Although this is cheap, it often does not work. After years of use, the core can develop thick mildew that readily comes back. Imagine what your shower or bathtub would look like after a couple of years without being scrubbed.
Another solution I have often heard mentioned is to spray an anti-mildew agent, such as a bathroom cleaner, into the outside vents that provide fresh air to the air-conditioning system. Make sure the air-conditioning controls are set to draw in fresh air. On GM cars, set the controls to “normal.”
This could work, at least temporarily. But if the core is prone to developing mildew, you may have to repeat the treatment frequently. And your car may end up smelling like a hospital operating room.
The most expensive approach is to replace the core, which would easily cost several hundred dollars, but the replacement core may have the same problem.
One final idea is to use an air-filtration or purification system. One of the few such systems designed for cars is produced by Alpine Industries of Minneapolis.
It uses an activated charcoal filter, an ozone generator and an ionizer system that the company claims will kill mildew. Ozone levels with the unit are kept to .02 parts per million, well below government limits of .05 ppm.
The device retails for $225 and is sold through independent distributors. Write to Warren Wood, 5258 Beeman Ave., North Hollywood, Calif. 91607, or call the manufacturer at (800) 989-2299.
