Air Con

[jmoz21]

mine was really begining to stink !!!

so I just removed the filter from behind the glovebox, dusted all the dead insects off, ran it under hot water till it was back to its original colour, put it back into position, and now no more stink!

[Adie]

Finally changed the air con filter to a new pollen one. Its been sitting in the kitchen for ages

Had a quick read of Mat's knowledge base guide and the job took about 2mins :D

Problem has now gone :D

Thanks to Chris S for supplying :winky:

[Mr Singh]

Guys,

i'm getting my Air Con recharged tomorrow, going to cost about £85.00

Will let you know the results :)

[Mr Morse]

Guys,

i'm getting my Air Con recharged tomorrow, going to cost about £85.00

Will let you know the results :)

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If it's not too late.........you can probably get it done for £20 at one of your local fridge/freezer refurbisher places. It's only a squirt of CFC into the condenser!

[Mr Singh]

:o

jeeeez... well, its going through company accounts so i'm not too bothered lol

[Mr Singh]

Okay just been done. Nice and Chiillllliiii :D

Was down 300g on gas!! no wonder it took 10 mins to get upto speed.

[squarehead]

If it's not too late.........you can probably get it done for £20 at one of your local fridge/freezer refurbisher places. It's only a squirt of CFC into the condenser!

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Do they really? Where is the condenser located in the IS - is it behind the glove box or under the engine?

Cheers.....

[Large Fat Lexus]

You guys are wasting time and money. Here is a trade tip....that actually works everytime.

You can take the filters out, but I leave mine in.

This kills all bacteria in system, washes the condenser/evaporator and as a bonus removes all odours such as dog/cigarette smells from the headlining and upholstery.

Place a kettle in the passenger footwell, centrally near a/c intake ducts.

Rig switch to boil constantly (keep an eye on level and top up in needed)

Run engine and put a/c on recirculate, open all vents and put switch to face on max power.

Close doors and windows and leave for 20 mins.

After 20 mins remove kettle and run a/c on outside intake for 5-10 mins to clear steam etc. Nothing gets wet or soggy so dont fret about the electrics, the a/c working keeps everything dry.

Thats it. Nothing beats this as the steam is sucked through the whole system washing and killing bugs in the process. I guarantee this works, I have done it on loads of cars with 100% success, dont buy smelly products from car stores, dont get ripped off with Lexus aircon services, save money and see instant results.

[Mr Morse]

Hmmmmm.....................that's told us now, hasn't it! :winky:

Welcome to LOC

[Large Fat Lexus]

Hmmmmm.....................that's told us now, hasn't it!  :winky:

Welcome to LOC

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Thanks Mr Morse, nice to be here.

I'll eat my underpants if you try this and it doesnt work, no perfume or false promises. My car smelt like a pigsty when I first bought it....mad cigar smoking non a/c using business man. This tip made my car smell normal and pleasant again. OK its a bit of hassle, but it doesnt hurt the kettle and the car smells like new with a very cool a/c system again. Trust me :D

[Mr Morse]

But how do you keep the kettle boiling and the car sealed? Run the power cable thru' a window and then seal it with masking tape maybe?

[Large Fat Lexus]

The door can be shut fully, the cable will squash but it doesnt do any harm, or shut the door and it will half click and the door seal keeps the steam in. Masking tape isnt necessary, you dont to have worry about steam escaping as it gets sucked into the intakes anyway. Put duck tape or a strong elastic band over the switch to keep it on the boil. Try it and be pleasantly suprised, nice for a spring clean or whatever. I do mine 3 or 4 times a year. Once you've done it you'll never do anything else again to clean the a/c I assure you.

[Mr Morse]

The door can be shut fully, the cable will squash but it doesnt do any harm, or shut the door and it will half click and the door seal keeps the steam in. Masking tape isnt necessary, you dont to have worry about steam escaping as it gets sucked into the intakes anyway. Put duck tape or a strong elastic band over the switch to keep it on the boil.  Try it and be pleasantly suprised, nice for a spring clean or whatever. I do mine 3 or 4 times a year. Once you've done it you'll never do anything else again to clean the a/c I assure you.

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Does it also work OK for cars with no A/C or C/C? i.e. conventional ventilation

[Mr Morse]

I'll answer my own question here:

As an experiment I tried it on the normally ventilated Starlet first. The inside did get steamed up but not too bad. After 15 mins steaming and then 10 mins on outside intake the car smelled much better than after a full interior shampooing.

Then onto the IS.

Steamed for 20 mins - the bottom of the glovebox got a bit steamed up but that was it. Another 10 mins on outside intake and smelled really fresh, not even a whiff of air freshener.

Excellent tip Big Fat Lexus!

:D :D :D

[squarehead]

WOW - might try this!

[Large Fat Lexus]

I'll answer my own question here:

As an experiment I tried it on the normally ventilated Starlet first. The inside did get steamed up but not too bad. After 15 mins steaming and then 10 mins on outside intake the car smelled much better than after a full interior shampooing.

Then onto the IS.

Steamed for 20 mins - the bottom of the glovebox got a bit steamed up but that was it. Another 10 mins on outside intake and smelled really fresh, not even a whiff of air freshener.

Excellent tip Big Fat Lexus!

:D  :D  :D

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Glad it worked out OK for you, if the car is really smelly I would suggest a 30 min steam and then 10 mins on outside intake. Other than that it seems to work a dream every time. :)

[Pip]

Great tip there Large Fat Lexus. Gonna give it a try tomorrow i thinks. ;)

[Niraj]

Excellent tip Big Fat Lexus!

:D  :D  :D

one for the books? gonna give this a go on saturday.

[squarehead]

The only thing that worries me here is running the car idle for 20 - 30 minutes, is it ok for the engine to run idle for such a long time?

[Niraj]

The only thing that worries me here is running the car idle for 20 - 30 minutes, is it ok for the engine to run idle for such a long time?

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i cannot think of, or see how, leaving the engine on idle for any amount of time could be damaging to the engine. Of course the downside of leaving your car on idle, is that you are wasting petrol, and not really getting anywhere... so you achieve 0mpg for 30mins... no big deal in my book.

hope that helps unless i misunderstood the question.

[squarehead]

I'll try this today and let you know the outcome!

[Niraj]

i gave it a go... but it hasn't worked as well as i had hoped.

i followed the instructions... even cleaned the pollen filter. left the recirculate on for 30 minutes, and fresh air for 10 minutes on full air con power.

unfortunately, the smell is still there, however it is far less than it was before.

i think i may have to spray the intakes with Febreeze or Dettol, and see if that helps.

[davepruce]

Just discovered BigFatLexus's solution (thanks BFL), sounds like it might work. My LS is getting a bit musty.

So.... we've (well er indoors has) got a steam generator that powers her iron and does all sorts of wondrous cleaning. Making steam and using it is its forte, and it has a 3 litre water source. so should not run out quickly.

So thats what I'll use, but where do I find the exhaust port (for want of a better term) that collects the air from the interior of the car and shoves it into the recirculatory system, cos thats where I'll aim the steam?

Anyone got a clue?

[Adie]

i gave it a go... but it hasn't worked as well as i had hoped.

i followed the instructions... even cleaned the pollen filter. left the recirculate on for 30 minutes, and fresh air for 10 minutes on full air con power.

unfortunately, the smell is still there, however it is far less than it was before.

i think i may have to spray the intakes with Febreeze or Dettol, and see if that helps. 

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Niraj..If its your aircon filter creating the smell, it might be worth upgrading the pollen filter??

[Mr Morse]

Just discovered BigFatLexus's solution (thanks BFL), sounds like it might work. My LS is getting a bit musty.

So.... we've (well er indoors has) got a steam generator that powers her iron and does all sorts of wondrous cleaning. Making steam and using it is its forte, and it has a 3 litre water source. so should not run out quickly.

So thats what I'll use, but where do I find the exhaust port (for want of a better term) that collects the air from the interior of the car and shoves it into the recirculatory system, cos thats where I'll aim the steam?

Anyone got a clue?

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Place the kettle or steamer in the passenger side footwell and set the AC to recirculate internally, directing the air out of the dash blower vents.