hachiroku

After procrastinating for 4 or so years....finally getting around to disinfecting my AC system. Have been using Klima-Cleaner for years on all of my vehicles as AUDI's are notorious for having stank air conditioning systems. To report, every single car I've performed this clean up on smelled super clean for years...Most, if not all had no odor of feet or mold to ever return. Just performed the clean up yesterday, so will report back on the status in a day or two. The directions on the label state to power on your A/C system to dry it out...I generally don't do this. I let the product naturally dry for 2-4 days. Basically, avoiding opperating the fan system enabling free air for 2-4 days. During the summer if your car is parked outside, the system will easily dry in 1 day. In the winter months, if your car is parked indoors, it might take 4 days before completely dry.

Steps:

1. remove passenger side cover below windshield but above shock tower
2. remove factory fresh air filter and and box as one (one 10mm plastic nut I believe)
3. feed Klima-Cleaner hose through fan blades towards the center of the dash ensuring it goes in straight and smooth. this can take multiple attempts. i redid this 3 times to ensure the hose was straight and did not catch on anything.
4. shake can of Klima-Cleaner vigourously
5. once clear, attach hose to can of Klima-Cleaner
6. proceed to dispense product
7. ensure there is a continuous flow of white foam product
8. if you hear bubbling or flow not steady simply move the can around so the straw inside of the can has direct contact with product for dispense
9. near the end of the can you'll get to a point where foam stops flowing no matter what orientation...in this case, disconnect the can and proceed to shake vigorously
10. reconnect and dispense product until can is completely empty
11. if done correctly you will be able to have dispensed ALL fluid from the can before empty.
12. Ideally, continuous shaking of the can while dispensing is the correct method, but due to packaging constraints we aren't able to do this easily on the W211. normally product is dispensed through the center dash vents, but on the W211 this is not possible due to the inability to smoothly feed the hose through without catching.
13. If all goes well, you'll have a steady flow of droplets exiting the bottom of your car. this is the product going from foam to liquid taking away any nasty stuff and draining to the outside environment.
14. Hope this guide helps someone!

benzokirk

Good write up. I can see myself doing this, although I don't have any foul smells. I like to breathe clean air. I DO remember once I picked up a catering sized order of chicken and drove for about an hour. The smell was in my car for almost 2 weeks. If I knew this then...

Fountain35

The way to keep the A/C from smelling like mildew is to turn off the compressor about a minute or two before shutting down the car. Turn off the A/C switch but keep the fan/air flow on until the air coming through the vents is ambient.

hachiroku

doesn't seem to work too well on the W211, or at least mine...there is always left over moisture that i can smell coming out of the vents at next start up even after doing this for the last 5-10 minutes of my drive.

honestly after discovering this product a few years ago...i don't even bother with the process of running the system with the A/C off. its much less of a hassle to do this as needed as it does make the vents smell like new.

Fountain35

What causes the smell is mildew which grows when there is moisture. If you can keep the system dry the mildew will die, thus by switching off the A/C compressor you are warming up the system so you don't get any condensation. Once you starve the mildew of moisture it will die off. It should work even quicker after you clean your system as you have done. Matters not what type of vehicle.