Weird smell when A/C is turned on

[steve45]

My 2009 Tahoe smells like melting Crayola crayons. Even with the A/C on.

 

[R Black]

There are many, many evaporator cleaner products, like this one. I've never tried any but I'd do something like this before the Lysol.

https://d2y5sgsy8bbmb8.cloudfront.n...rm-Generic-480p-16-9-1409173089793-rpcbe5.mp4

Good call. I'm inclined to agree to using a dedicated more professional product prior to trying the Lysol, provided it isn't super expensive. Or. I suppose vice versa, go to the pro stuff if the Lysol doesn't work.

My suggestion was more on the pedestrian, low key, cheap-hack side of things, but if it's any consolation the Lysol smell does not last long.

 

[R Black]

Thanks for the info guys. I’ll try the Lysol solution first. I assume this should be sprayed outside the cabin where fresh air comes in around the windshield somewhere, correct?


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Correct. There are videos online on how to do this, once again you may get better results with a more dedicated professional product as others have suggested. but it doesn't hurt to try the Lysol.

 

[grouch]

If anybody has ever smoked in the vehicle, the smoke particles are in the ducts and growing mold. Lysol is the first thing I try. Years ago, I got one vehicle that was so bad, people were actually getting ill from the smell. That time, I used, I think, BG Industries "Frigiclean". That required drilling a small hole and shooting a cleaning foam into the area of the expansion coil in the HVAC system. The foam will settle in then as it dissolves, it will slide down taking dirt and mold with it. It won't do anything about the ducts but it will clean the coil where a lot of it sits as well as dirt and leaves that blow in and catch.

 

[79jasper]

There's some good videos on the tube about cleaning cars that were smoked in. (I think the channel is Dallas paint correction and auto detailing)
He blows out the vents with a leaf blower.

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[petethepug]

My 2009 Tahoe smells like melting Crayola crayons. Even with the A/C on.

This is funny. It might make sense if you have one of the trucks manufactured at GM’s Mexico plant. Your VIN would start with 3.

It’s popular in Mexico to use a waxy noise insulation product that smells like crayons. The Mk III VW made in Puebla Mex are known as crayola cars because of it.


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[Danny3737]

My old 2008 Highlander had the same smell at startup. I would shut the AC off about a mile from where I was going and the smell at startup went away. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it worked.