Cleaning out the air Vents

[joga]

I was wondering if anyone had a good suggestion on how to clean out the air vents in a vanagon. The previous owner was a bit of a slop and that is putting it nicely. Anyway, anytime we run the heat or just open the front vents to get some air we get this smell. It almost smells like old wet dog. Would love to get rid of that smell. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated and my wife and my nose thank you.

[Wildthings]

You didn't say if you have a A/C or a WBX. On an A/C you may have mouse nest in the ducting under the van. Sometimes you can clean it out in situ by removing a hose from each end of the ducting and running water through the ducts. Parking on a hill will help the water flow through.

For both A/C and WBX'x you can remove and clean the ducts that run from the center heating unit to the side vents on the dash. Not easy but can be done. For the main heating unit you might make some gains on the stink by forcing water into the defroster duct with a garden hose. This of course is apt to make a big mess. Getting at the heater unit to do good cleaning it is a major job and requires the removal of the entire dash. If you split the heating unit open you will need the 11 repair clips from VW to reassemble the unit, and while you are in that far you might consider replacing the blower fan or at least lubing its bearings. They are notorious for seizing up.

[joga]

Sorry i did not give a better discription of the car. It is a 1990 weekender with the airconditioner. I will see about doing some of the suggestions that you made. Finding the hill will not be an issue since I live on one. Thanks for the suggestions.

[bucko]

I live in the great state of Florida (most of the time when not in Texas!).

Because of the high humidity, the house ducts must be cleaned profesionally every 3 to 5 years, to prevent mold spores from making folks sick in their house during the hot summer months of air conditioning use.

Anyhow, the person that came to my house to clean the ducts had this spray cleaner he sprayed into the intake duct initially. He then used large brushes to clean out the flex ducts in my attic. I mentioned that my 84 Vanagon had a stale stench when I used the heater. He took the spray bottle and sprayed the cleaner into my vents; both at the top and bottom (intake). I ran the heater and fan on high for about 10 minutes.

No more stink! See if you have these services in your area (yellow pages under air conditioning). Perhaps this bottle of cleaner can be purchased.
_________________
Current VW drives: 1984 Westfalia

Past VW drives: 1967 Beetle, 1973 Beetle, 1977 Bus, 1971 Military Type 181

[big swifty]

holy ratsnest Batman.
This smelled ripe before we tore into it and thoroughly disinfected it.

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_________________
Evan
1987 Vanagon Syncro // Westfalia pop-top graft // Factory new ALH. 11mm IP. AFN 110 RC 2,3,4 // S7 turbo// Titan P502's
2013 Golf 4d TDI. No mods. Yet.
[1991 Jetta coupe TD. Giles Superpump. Custom tall 5 speed. SOLD

[adventurevan]

[jlrftype7]

[DanHoug]

there's a 95.7% chance the smell is from a mouse nest in the heater box. the OE heater core has an extremely fine fin density and acts as a filter for nest debris so folks don't think there's a nest because no debris flys out of the vents. a flexible snake cam might be employed thru the heater box air intake. only solution if the home of Satan's Little Helper is found is a weekend of your work to pull the heater box and clean it.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Wildthings]

I have been able to remove mouse nesting material for various areas of the heater system using one of the flexible three prong picker uppers. If you live in a desert area you can then back-flush the duct work with water, don't know if this would be a good idea in a hot humid area though.

[MsTaboo]

We had mice stashing seeds from our bird feeders in the fresh air intake before I closed off the opening with wire mesh.

Turned on the heater fan one day and seeds came flying out the vents!
Got home, pulled the vents and snaked a vacuum hose down the vent tubes. Sucked up several cups of seeds!

This worked because I caught before anything got wet.
Years later when I pulled the dash to redo everything I found the vac had worked great and when I opened up the heater box there was only the usual bug bits and feathers that get sucked in.

Pulling the dash and giving it all a good clean makes a big difference in smells though, and gave me a chance to wash and disinfect the plastic pipes.

Can be a bit intimidating but really not that hard.

And it gives you the chance to do this while replacing all the foam. Makes everything work better and reduces noise.

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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

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[vanagonjr]

For what it’s worth, I soaked my plastic air/heater tubes in simple green and in vinegar. Worked perfectly, despite claims “one can never get rid of the mouse smell”.
_________________
John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
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FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798