My daughters 01 Grand Cherokee has a leaking AC evaporator core that I am not real excited about having to change out in the near future. To get to the point of knowing it needed replaced I charged the AC with freon with a dye in it and the dye leaked out the drain tube in the firewall. Anyway, since I have done that she says it smells like cow manure when her vent is open. Thoughts?

 

My guess is that it's just the freon leaking out of the systems. The stuff smells like hell.

 

I've never noticed an odor from R12 but don't know about R134 which is used today. Having said that, it's possible the dye has reacted with debris in the A/C unit and got moldy. Cow manure is basically producing sulfur dioxide and methane. How about turning on the A/C and holding a can of Fabreeze over the intake screen. Might work?

 

May be mold inside the HVAC case. Set the mode to fresh air and turn the fan all the way up. Now spray something like Lysol down into the cowl on the passenger side be the windshield. Use a lot and let the fan run a while. That should help with the stink.

 

They make cleaners for this. They say you should run the car with the a/c off for a minute before shutting off your vehicle to avoid this. The moisture in the vent system can mold & mildew and smell quite bad.


Miles